Ninja Ashikabi
by RyoshiMorino
Summary: One last battle. That's all it was supposed to be. But, as always, nothing turns out the way it's planned as Naruto and Sasuke are thrown into a world where a madman forces 108 young women to fight. What's more, Kurama is in his clutches.
1. Chapter 1

_**Here we go again, ladies and gentlemen. This is what happens when I start reading crossovers...I wanna write one of that genre myself...dammit...**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first chapter!**_

_**1: One Hell of A Storm**_

* * *

Naruto landed on his feet with a growl, "Dammit, Sasuke, when are you gonna get it through that thick head of your's!?" He yelled at his former teammate, "You're not touching the Kage!"

Sasuke sneered from above the blond, "You really don't get it, do you, Dobe?" He asked, the lone Rinnegan eye glaring balefully at him, "I'm doing this so peace will be ensure!"

"By murdering our comrades?!" Naruto roared incredulously, "You're even threatening Kurama and the others! How is that peaceful!?" The blond glared, looking up at the nine floating planetoids, one of them containing his friend. "Face it, Sasuke, even if you succeeded, you'd be on the run for the rest of your life!"

"That's the point," Sasuke snapped, confusing the blond further, "If I kill them, the the entire elemental nations will be after me as a whole...working together against a common enemy, like this war...but they will never catch me." Sasuke smirked, "I'll be there ghost. The one thing that they won't be able to rest peacefully knowing that I'm on the run, alive, and well. Leaf, Cloud, Mist, Rock, Sand, they'll all hunt me to the ends of the earth!"

"And you're okay with that?" Naruto asked sadly, "Listen, Sasuke, I understand...even Geezer Sage understood, but I can't live knowing that you killed someone close to me, and I had the chance and the power to stop it." He said, raising his right hand as a Rasenshuriken started to form. "I'm stopping you here and now."

Sasuke sighed, his left arm beginning to spark with black tendrils of lightning, "You always were too stubborn for your own good...it's probably the only thing I admired about you."

Before the inevitable clash could come about, one of the planetoids rumbled and cracked, as if breaking apart from the inside. Naruto looked at the ball curiously, as did Sasuke.

Then, not a moment later, out crashed a long, massive red-furred arm that Naruto knew all too well as the blond grinned, "Looks like you're not as strong as the Geezer Sage, eh? You can't even keep Kurama down!"

"_Damned right!"_ The Fox said for himself as he tore himself free from the stone prison, murder in his eyes as his gaze fell on the last living Uchiha, _"That's the last time I ever let those damned eyes hold me, you wretched little brat!"_

Sasuke grunted, raising his arm toward the raging beast, "Then I'll just absorb you."

"The hell you will!" Naruto roared, launching himself at the Uchiha, "Wind Style: RasenShuriken!"

Sasuke changed his arm's direction, "Jutsu Absorption!"

Naruto's jutsu was pulled from his hand...a moment before he himself disappeared. Sasuke cursed as the Shadow clone's energy entered him, and a familiar screaming erupted from behind him.

Kurama roared in rage and freed himself, dropping down toward the to ninja as Sasuke whipped around with his black lightning Chidori at the ready, fully prepared to kill his friend if that was what it would take to bring about his goal. Naruto was already on him. The Rasenshuriken thrust out to meet the Uchiha as he struck back with his own Jutsu. Kurama reached for them, his claws aiming for the Uchiha, hoping to bring him down before he could do the blond injury.

Three forces collided at once.

Naruto's Rasenshuriken.

Sasuke's Blaze enhanced Chidori.

And the massive power of the Nine-tailed Fox.

The resulting explosion was so great that those still encased by the remnants of the Shinju woke from their slumber as the massive fireball that was the epicenter of the destruction blossomed.

Kakashi Hatake, holding a prone Sakura, gazed tiredly at the devastation. "It seems...that I've lost them both now." The man said as the rosette began to stir. Sakura looked up at her sensei, then at the growing ball of flames. There was no doubt in her mind who was in the middle of the destruction as her tears began to flow.

Inside the dome, Naruto was losing his footing rapidly as the earth broke apart. Sasuke and Kurama were no better. Sasuke was attempting to leap from rock to rock to try and escape, and the massive fox was giving chase.

"Kurama, no!" Naruto shouted at the fox, but the beast was dead set on shredding Sasuke to pieces.

Suddenly, the explosion turned. The energy from the combined chakras turned into a small black void, which grew in power, becoming the size of one of Sasuke's planetoids. The wind picked up, drawing debris toward the center. Sasuke landed beside Naruto, "What the hell did you do?!"

"Me?!" Naruto shouted incredulously, "How's this my fault!?"

"Because," Sasuke snapped, "Crazy things always happen when you're around!"

"_Oi! Knock off the lover's quarrel!" _Kurama roared as he tried to move away from the distortion. "_We need to get out of here if we don't want to get sucked in! That's a black hole! We go into that, and we do not come out again!" _

Naruto and Sasuke, who were already having trouble keeping their footing, looked at the growing sphere, "And when does this thing stop?" Sasuke asked, "It can't be unstoppable, can it?"

"_Land bound as it is, no," _the fox said, "_It'll collapse in on itself when the combined energies run out, but -ACK!"_ The fox roared as he was lifted from the rock he was perched on, and drawn toward the void, _"Naruto, help!" _

Naruto didn't hesitate to leap forward, donning his chakra cloak to reach out to the fox and latch onto him. "Hang on!"

"_To what?!_"

Sasuke lept in beside Naruto, "Are you insane!? Leave him and let's get out of here! I promise I won't do anything to your precious Kage's!"

Naruto growled at him, "Dammit, he's a comrade! The first thing we learned was to never leave a comrade behind!"

"Your comrade," Sasuke growled, taking him by the shoulder in an attempt to drag him away, "Isn't even alive! You'd risk everything for a monster!"

Naruto turned to him in a full on glare, "I risked everything for you, didn't I?!" Naruto yelled, his feet beginning to slip, "And you know why?! Becuase you're my friend! And Kurama's just as much a friend as you are!" He gave a powerful tug on the the fox as the void threatened to engulf him.

"_I'm slipping!"_ He roared, "_Naruto, let go! You'll get sucked in with me if you don't!"_

"Hell no!"

Sasuke watched as Naruto slid further and further away, still attached to the fox. "Tch, dammit, you idiot! Of all times to be noble!" Sasuke snapped and summoned his Susanoo. The gigantic armored form grabbed one of the fox's arms and tried to pull him back, "You'd better be grateful about this after you tried to eat me!"

_"Never!"_ Kurama grinned, "_I still wanna eat you!"_

"Argue after we get the hell outta here!" Naruto shouted, "It's still coming!"

No sooner had he spoken then the black mass touched the tip of one of Kurama's tails. Kurama yelled in warning before his energy fed the mass, and his lower half became engulfed.

Naruto cursed as the ground beneath his feet crumbled to dust and he was lifted into the air. Sasuke's form wavered, wings sprouting from the armor's back and reaching for him. "Hang on, Dobe!"

"No!" Naruto waved him off, "Get outta here! You'll get trapped!"

Sasuke yelled, "You think I'll let you die like this?! Fat chance you idiot!"

"_Naruto!"_ Kurama yelled as the rest of his body was consumed. Naruto lost his footing and was pulled toward the darkness, the hands of the Susanoo clasping around him as he and Sasuke were swallowed up by the darkness.

=x=

Falling.

That was the feeling that Naruto had. That he was falling. He opened his eyes to a black abyss that held no light, nor sound, nor smell. He couldn't feel the movement of his body, but it felt as if he was floating through mud almost. He looked off to his left, and saw Sasuke drifting beside him, unconscious. When he looked for the fox, however, there was no sign of him.

He couldn't tell where they were moving. Forward or backward. He just knew that this was really it. They'd been swallowed by the black hole. They were dead.

_Geeze, _Naruto thought with a small smirk, _I know I always wanted to go out with a bang, but gimme a break, huh?_

Naruto sighed, the sound of his breathing echoing around him. Was this really how things were going to end for them? Drifting in this lonely place?

_If I could start over..._

Naruto flinched, hearing Sasuke's voice.

_If I could start over...I'd never abandon my friends again._

Naruto looked over at him, seeing that he was still knocked out.

_Sasuke?_

Suddenly, a bright, white light shone ahead of them, which seemed to be getting closer. _Great, _Naruto thought as they neared the light, _Well, at least i get to see Mom and Dad again..._he closed his eyes. _Dammit!_

=x=

Many things had happened in the day for one Minato Sahashi. One, he'd failed his college entrance exams...again. Two, and probably the better thing, as strange, yet lovely young woman had literally come crashing into his life. And three, two more women had tried to kill him...and he didn't even know them!

Now he and the girl, Musubi, were sitting on the river bank as they caught their breathes. "Are you doing any better, Minato-kun?" Musubi asked, "Musubi's really sorry about dragging you like that. It just felt like the thing to do."

Minato sighed and smiled at her, "It's fine, really. You probably saved me from those other two girls...did you know them?"

Musubi shook her head, "I just know that they're Sekirei, like me," she said, before a loud, rumbling growl erupted from her stomach, "Uuuh, I'm soooo hungry." She pouted, slumping over.

Minato snickered, getting to his feet, "Come on, why don't we get something to eat, and then we can - "

Suddenly the sky darkened, black clouds rolling in even though it had been a bright, cloudless day only moments ago. Lightning flashed in the distance over the city, one bolt coming dangerously close to the towering skyscrapers. At the center of the clouds was what Minato thought, and feared, to be a funnel cloud.

Musubi stood with him, her hand unconsciously moving toward his, "Minato-kun...what is that?"

"I don't know," the young man said, "but it doesn't look good."

That was when three very strange bolts of lightning flashed across the sky. One blue bolt flashed into what Minato knew to be the park area. A black bolt flew across to the other side of the city. Minato had to cover his ears when that one exploded against the ground, the shock being felt even from where they stood. And then, one final bolt, this one crimson in color, webbed out across the sky, and fragmented into smaller bolts that fell across the city.

Else where, near the park, a young girl was hiding in the area. She'd been damned close to the first bolt of lightning that struck, which had set her ears to ringing. The shock wave of the blast was close enough that it nearly knocked her off her feet had she not steadied herself with the massive hammer she carried. The wind died down as the girl came out from hiding.

Dust rose from the blast zone, but that wasn't what was attracting her attention. She could _feel_ someone there, right in the center of it all!_ What is this?_ She wondered as she neared the sight, _I feel so...uneasy..._

"Guh..." She started when the pained grunt came, and ducked behind a tree in case there was trouble.

Naruto grunted in pain as he crawled to his knees, his form smoldering from the blast, "Gah...what...happened...to me," he ground out before collapsing, "I can't...my chakra..."

Two dainty feet entered his line of sight, "Um, excuse me?" Naruto looked up slowly, finding a girl in a tight white gown looking down at him with a slight blush on her face...and a ridiculously large hammer strapped to her back! "Are you alright? You weren't struck by that lightning just now were you?"

Naruto's only answer was to try and get up again.

The girl knelt in front of him, which didn't help his situation. He wasn't trying to get up just to get himself situated, he was trying to get up because he had a brilliant view of the girl's pink striped panties. "Maybe you should stay down?"

"N-no," Naruto stammered, closing his eyes, "I just need some water."

The girl looked around for a moment, spotting a fountain near the center of the area, and hurried over to it. She took off one of the long-sleeved gloves she wore and dipped it in, soaking up as much water as she could before hurrying back to him. Naruto had managed to work himself onto his back, and was looking around himself, trying to get his bearings.

Suddenly he felt his head being lifted onto something soft and found the girl had returned and placed his head in her lap. "Here," she pressed to cool cloth of her glove against his lips, "It's not much, but maybe it will help?"

Naruto mumbled his thanks and sucked as much water as possible from the cloth. His throat was horribly dry, causing him to choke one before the dryness went away and he could drink properly. "Where am I?" Naruto mumbled, "It smells different here...like...there's no life..."

The girl frowned at this, "You're in Shinto Teito," she told him, letting him drink again, "The capital of Japan?"

"Japan?" Naruto asked, "Where is that?"

=x=

"Such a wondrous thing, don't you think, Sahashi-chan?" Minaka Hiroto, gazing at the creature behind the glass, "I've never heard of anything like this except what I've read in fairytales!"

Takami glared at him for the affectionate term he'd used, but was no less impressed that they'd managed to capture this beast. From what the reports were saying, whatever brought the creature out into the open had left it severely weakened. Now, in a holding pen, behind several layers of bullet proof glass, was a gigantic five-tailed fox, glaring at them with pure, unbridled hatred.

"It is quite something, Hiroto," she said, flinching as the fox growled loudly, "But what do you intend to do with it?"

Minaka grinned madly, "Oh, I intend to find whatever came with it. You see, that lightning storm that crashed over the city not an hour ago is what brought us this mighty beast, from that last bolt of red lightning, but there were also two more bolts that struck elsewhere in the city...wherever this creature came from, it wasn't alone!" He laughed giddily, "Oh, this is so exciting! My little love story is about to unfold to new heights!"

=x=

Naruto rested against the girl, Yashima as she called herself, for a long time. She didn't seem to mind, quite the contrary, she seemed like she was enjoying herself as she ran her fingers through his hair gently.

"So, you're from somewhere called the Land of Fire?" She asked him, eager to learn more about him for some reason. "How did you get here, then? I only came this way because a bolt of lightning hit the ground."

Naruto explained what had happened during his battle with his friends, believing he was about to die. "Maybe I really am dead?" Naruto wondered aloud, shocking the girl, but Naruto just smiled up at her, "Why else would I have an angel looking over me?"

Yashima felt a flash of heat rush through her, boiling up to her cheeks and dousing them with small splash of pink. She gave his cheek a slight pinch, making him wince, "If you were really dead, then there wouldn't be any pain, right?" Naruto grinned up at her while she placed her hand against his cheek, "Or warmth? Yet you can feel this, right?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, guess you're right." He sighed, "Not gonna say I'm disappointed." Though a few things weighed heavily on his mind. Sasuke and Kurama were no where to be seen. And without his chakra working properly, he couldn't hope to find either of them. And he wondered how a hundred foot fox could go unnoticed?

And then there was Sasuke's temper.

He shuddered thinking of the trouble his friend could cause in a place like this if someone got on his bad side..._God help them, whoever they are. _

=x=

"Choo!" Sasuke sniffled, rubbing his nose, "Geeze, this place is messing with my sinuses." He growled before sheathing his sword, his recent work scattered around him as the poor unfortunate muggers bled out all over the sidewalk. Sasuke took a moment to take in his bearings. "Damn, just where the hell did that blast take us?"

To Sasuke, who had lived quite wild for the last three to four years of his life away from Konoha, the noise and scents of villages had all but left him. But this place was absolutely stagnant. The very air itself seemed like poison to inhale, and the noise alone was enough to rattle his ears.

"At least we all speak the same language, thank God." Sasuke sighed, holding up his right hand, and attempting to mold his chakra, and failed, "Damn, whatever happened, my chakra's so scrambled up that I'll have to start from scratch after I find Dobe."

He stepped out of the alley, and back onto the street where he drew a bit of attention to himself, dressed as he was. Most of it was the hungry gaze of a few women that were passing by. A look that he was blatantly trying to ignore as he was all too familiar with it.

Suddenly, he felt a chill run straight down his spine, causing him to reach once more for his sword, whipping around, ready for another fight. He found no one there, "What was that?"

Strangely, the chill he felt...was not that of danger. More like it was as if someone was calling for him. He looked toward what had to be the center of the strange village. Whatever was making him feel this way, it was over there. Across a city of rock and steel.

Lucky for him, he could easily avoid the larger moving metal carts that seemed to be everywhere. All it would take was a few leaps, and he would be there.

=x=

"Naruto, are you sure you should be moving around so soon?" Yashima asked as she helped the staggering blond to his feet. "Ican feel that you have a very powerful life force, but you're still quite weak. Perhaps you should rest a little longer?"

Naruto shook his head, "I need to find my friends, Yashima-chan," he told her, gaining yet another blush from the girl, "If Sasuke's in the same boat as me, then he's likely to be pissed beyond belief...and I don't even want to think about what Kurama's going to do in a place like this." He shuddered to think what the gigantic kitsune would do if angered in this strange place.

Yashima ducked under his arm and supported him on her shoulders, "Still, it'd be better if you took your - "

"Well, well, lookie here!" A loud voice yelled laughingly, "What's the matter, Babe, boyfriend can't hold his liquor?" A large man stepped out from the trees, a minical grin plastered on his face. Naruto growled, as he could smell alcohol on him from here. He could also scent that this guy was dangerous, especially in his weakened state. Naruto was near exhausted. And the fact that his chakra system was scrambled did nothing to help him.

"We don't want any trouble," Naruto said, trying to be peaceful. "We were just leaving."

The man grinned, and pulled out a knife which he flipped open, "Oh, you can leave anytime you like, Blondie," he said, leering at Yashima, who trembled, "But your little girl there, she stays with me."

Naruto clenched his fists, and extracted himself Yashima, who feared momentarily that he was going to leave her, only to see the young man square himself up and pull...a kunai?

Naruto, weak as he was at the moment, dropped into a fighting stance. This thug, tough as he looked, was weaker than he was, that much he knew just by looking at him. "You want her?" Naruto growled, "You're gonna have to go through me!"

The man gave out a roar and slashed at the blond, startling Yashima into screaming as Naruto dodged the blade with ease and brought his own up and sliced him thinly across the shoulder, not a mortal wound, but enough to make the man back off.

The man screamed angrily as he held his bleeding shoulder, "Argh, you son of a bitch! No one cuts Junichi Tanigawa!"

"He just did," said an eerily cold voice from behind him, "And just to let you know," Junichi turned and in time to see a set of coal black eyes staring into his own, "No one's allowed to kill the dobe but me." That was the last thing he heard before the cold steel of a blade burst from his chest and withdrew just as quickly. His blood sprayed out in a shower, drenching the ground around him as he fell.

Naruto looked on emotionlessly as the man fell dead, not sorry to see him as such, "Took you long enough to find me, Teme."

Sasuke gave his sword a swing, throwing the small amount of blood off of it before sheathing it once more, "Wasn't looking for you. Something called me here...who's the girl?"

Naruto looked behind him as Yashima approached, a large blush on her face, "Oh, sorry about all that, Yashima-chan, but I didn't think -Uh? Yashima-chan, why are you lookin' at me like that?" Indeed, Yashima was looking at him in a way that made his stomach do flips. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were slightly glazed. She was also breathing quite hard for someone that hadn't done anything strenuous.

Sasuke smirked in amusement, _Oh, boy, this outta be good. _It was the same look that Karin had often given him. And knowing Karin, that look betrayed nothing but lust. He was proven right as not a moment later Yashima placed her hands against Naruto's chest, clutching at his all but ruined jacket.

"I've...finally found you...my Ashikabi-sama!"

"Ashi-what-now?" Naruto blushed from the girl's close proximity, "Uh, look, Yashima-chan, I'm not all that sure what's going on here, but -mph!" Yashima pulled him down at place a small, tentative kiss against his lips. Naruto was caught off guard, badly so. But what happened next would register in his mind for the rest of his life.

Yashima's lips were soft and warm, yes, but he also felt something else. It was an energy flowing from the girl, and into himself, mingling with his chakra. It produced a warmth that he'd never in his life felt before. The kunai he held dropped from his grasp as his arms encircled the girl's waist, pulling her against him. Now he felt his chakra being drawn in with her power, beginning to mingle with his, making them...one.

Yashima gave out a quiet, yet almost erotic moan as she deepened the kiss by stretching up on her toes, and moving her arms around his neck.

Sasuke sighed, about to leave the pair to it, when suddenly, a bright light erupted from the girl, and dazzling blue crystal-like wings sprouted from her back looking almost like a lotus flower in full bloom.

"O...kay..." Sasuke scratched the back of his head as the light-wings faded, and the two broke apart, "What the hell just happened?"

Yashima smiled up at the still dazed Naruto, "It's a pleasure to truly meet you. I am Sekirei number eighty-four, Yashima." She bowed to him slightly, "Please take care of me."

Naruto finally snapped out of his daze, shaking his head vigorously as if he were dreaming. He looked down at the girl that had just kissed him, and felt the warmth return to his chest. "Y-Yashima-chan? Just what did you just - "

Yashima simply jumped in and hugged him, "I'm so happy, Ashikabi-sama!"

Sasuke snickered, for once, it seemed the headaches would be soley on Naruto.

* * *

_**Well, that wraps up the first chapter, and for those that are wondering, Sasuke's a semi-good guy, meaning he's good, just a little more willing than most to move people out of his way...permanently. As for Sekirei, you already see that Naruto's got little Yashima, Miss Hammer-Time herself, as for Sasuke...wait and see ;)**_

_**Don't forget to review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Gotta give props to F3mi for catching that bit about Kurama's lightning bolt splitting apart in different directions. It's true, Kurama is less than half himself at the moment, which won't last, btw, but let's just say that he's going to cause major destruction later. **_

_**2: Maison Izumo**_

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Sasuke said, holding up his hand to the pair in front of him, directing his gaze at Yashima, "This guy, Minaka Hiroto, found your race that descended from another planet in search of these Ashikabi," Sasuke said, getting a nod out of the girl clinging to the blond's side, "And now he's forcing you all to fight in some sort of game he calls the Sekirei Plan?"

"That is right, Sasuke-san," Yashima smiled as she leaned into Naruto's side. Naruto, for his part, was more embarrassed than Sasuke could remember...except that one time in the classroom when Sakura had bumped into him and...ugh, he didn't want to remember that!

"And, apparently, Naruto is your Ashikabi?"

"That's right," she said, smiling still, "And he's so brave! He took on that thug even though he was clearly injured!"

Sasuke nodded, seeing that it was something Naruto would do. "And this game...how does it end?"

Yashima looked down, worried, "The last Asikabi and one Sekirei belonging to the Ashikabi shall ascend the the High Skies Above."

"You mean Heaven?" Naruto asked, shaking his head, "No thanks, I've died enough for one lifetime, thanks."

"We won't die, Ashikabi-sama," Yashima said, clutching onto him tighter, "I will fight for you until the end if I have to!"

"I've done enough of that, too," Naruto sighed, slumping, and looked up at Sasuke, "So, where does that leave you and me? We gonna keep fighting, or are we done?"

Sasuke shrugged, "At this point, I think it's pointless to keep fighting. We don't even know anything or anyone in this place, hell, we can't even use our chakra right now, so what good would it do us?"

Naruto grinned, "Friends again?"

"Truce," Sasuke corrected him, "It took three of us to get here, and it might take three of us to get back...speaking of which, where the hell is that overgrown furball?"

Naruto shrugged, "No idea. When I landed, I was alone, until Yashima-chan found me - "

"Heehee," Yashima giggled.

"Then you came along and finished off that jackass over there," Naruto motioned to the corpse a few feet away.

Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly, "Don't tell me that you're still being a baby about killing?"

Naruto shook his head, "Don't get me wrong, Teme, I probably woulda killed him myself." He said, casting a small glance at the girl at his side, "Besides, he was being rude the Yashima-chan." To this, Yashima cooed and leaned into him once more. Sasuke had an urge to vomit.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Yashima, tiny as she was, let out a rumble from her stomach that rivaled even the Kyuubi's roar...or Naruto when he went a day without ramen...it was close in comparison.

Yashima blushed heavily, clutching at her stomach, "S-sorry...I guess I'm a little hungry?"

_A little? _Naruto and Sasuke thought.

"Well," Sasuke sighed, "I did manage to swipe a bit of cash from some idiots that attacked me earlier because of the way I was dressed," he reached into his robes and pulled out a wad of paper bills, "This is money, right?"

Yashima looked at the bills, "Yes, that appears to be around fifty thousand yen."

Naruto whistled appreciatively, "Not bad for a bunch'a thugs," he said, then looked back at Junichi, "What about that guy?"

"Haven't checked him, yet," Sasuke said, and rose, striding toward the corpse. Yashima looked a little green as he kicked the corpse onto its back, and started rifling through the pockets. "Hn, seems like our dearly departed friend was quite a big spender." Sasuke raised up, holding a stack of money in one hand and small folder in another, "If I had my guess, then I'd wager this guy just got paid for running drugs if it's anything like back home."

*Gurgle* Naruto grinned sheepishly as his own stomach put in its two yen saying. "Well, we might as well put it to good use, eh?"

Sasuke pocketed the money, "Is food really all you ever think about?" *Gurgle* Sasuke started. "Uh...that wasn't me..." Naruto and Yashima both grinned at him, the latter hiding it behind her hands. "Seriously! It wasn't!" Sasuke snapped. Sure he was hungry, but that hadn't been him!

Sasuke started looking around the area for a moment, soon followed by Naruto with Yashima tailing after him.

Sasuke was beginning to feel that chill again. _What is that? What's calling me? _He wondered as he moved ahead of the others. "Who's out there?" He came out into another area of the park... and there she was.

"Akitsu-neesan?" Yashima said from behind him, "What is she doing here?"

"You know her?" Sasuke asked over his shoulder.

Yashima, a little afraid of her Ashikabi's friend, hid behind him and nodded, "She's a scrapped Sekirei. Her adjuster treated her badly, and tried to force himself on her, and prematurely activated her crest. She can't be winged like the rest of us."

For some reason, this angered the Uchiha, "Is she strong?"

"Very," Yashima nodded, "She's Sekirei number seven. All single digits are stronger that double or triple digits."

Sasuke hummed in thought. So she was strong? That certainly appealed to him. But if she couldn't be winged...He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "You two go on ahead. I'll find you later," he tossed them the folder containing Junichi's money. "Yashima, make sure not to spend all of that. There's no telling when we might need it. And Naruto, don't go on a ramen binge."

"Aw, come on~!" Naruto whined, "I haven't had any in months!"

"Suck it up," was Sasuke's reply as he strode toward the girl, "Now scram."

Naruto grumbled and turned around, mumbling, "Grumpy, duck-haired, Teme."

"I heard that."

Yashima giggled, despite her fear of the man, and followed after her Ashikabi, failing to notice the two gleaming red eyes following them.

Sasuke, meanwhile, made his way over to the girl, blushing ever so slightly. Akitsu, for all that she was said to be strong, was covered in blood, and wore nothing more than a stolen lab coat. She looked up at him as he approached.

"Sorry," the boy said, "But do you mind if I sit beside you?"

Akitsu shook her head. "Ah...I don't mind."

Sasuke took a minute to look her over, seeing that she was virtually uninjured, save for a few scrapes and bruises here and there. Other than that...she just needed a few clothes...

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Sasuke asked as he took a seat, "Isn't there anyone willing to help you?"

"No," she said somewhat angrily, "I am...broken...useless...I cannot be winged."

Leaning back, Sasuke took in the night sky for a moment. "Would you like to know what I hate about large towns like this?" He asked, barely waiting for an answer before he continued, "You can't see the stars." He said, making the girl look at him strangely, "Of the few things I've come to love in the world, looking at the stars was one of them."

Akitsu looked up, seeing nothing for the bright city lights. "Ah...I cannot see them."

Sasuke shrugged, "Humans have an inborn fear of the dark, stars or no stars." He said, "When it all began, humans had fire to chase the night away. Now we have all these artificial lights around. Because of that, we can't see the stars." He sighed and leaned down, casting her a small gaze, "Fear is also the reason humans build cities. We're afraid of being alone." He smiled at her, which caused a small blush to rise to her cheeks, "Are you afraid of being alone?"

=x=

Takami sat in front of the containment cell where their newest guest was staying. The fox refused any and all food it was given, nor would it take water. Yet, they had already lost five handlers to the creature. It would seem that the fox had a taste for human flesh.

"So," Takami said, not really talking to the fox, "Just what the hell are you, anyway?"

The fox lifted its head from its paws, surprisingly hand-like, and growled at her, sending chills running through her. Then, without warning, it opened its mouth and blasted the glass with flames. Takami was so surprised that she fell back out of her chair, forgetting that the glass would protect her.

The fox seemed to take a bit of enjoyment out of her fear, and grinned at her before laying back down to nap. Takami growled as she got back to her feet, "I hope that moron knows what he's doing, keeping a thing like this."

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing, Sahashi-chan," Minaka said for himself happily, "And if I'm such a moron, then how is it that you're working for me?"

Takami nearly shrieked when the man appeared behind her, "Dammit, how many times have I told you to stop doing that!?" But Minaka ignored her in favor of the beast behind the glass, which was leering at him with one large eye open.

"It's frustrating, isn't it?" He asked of the beast, "Not being able to just smash yourself free, as you likely would have, if I didn't have these placed all around," He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like an ordinary piece of paper, save for the intricate design on its face. Kurama's eyes shot open. "Yes, I see you recognize this. It's amazing how a monster such as yourself can be contained by something as simple as a sealing tag such as this." Minaka smiled gleefully, "I'm afraid that you won't be going anywhere until I've had my ways with that awesome power of your's."

Kurama rose from the floor and stalked toward the window, startling Takami into retreating a fair distance away. By the time he reached the glass, Kurama was staring the deranged man in the eyes, "_You wish to harness my power, do you?"_ Minaka was slightly shocked, but less so than the woman behind him, by the fox's words, "_You are a fool to think that you can use me. I am far above you, in many more ways than you can count. I have seen the beginning of life, and the end of all things. What can a wet-behind-the-ears wretch like you do?!"_

Minaka, overcoming his surprise, smiled at the leering fox. "You don't seem to understand just how brilliant we humans can be. You see, I am in the middle of ushering in the new age of the gods, my dear Kitsune, and, with your power, I believe I can up the power of a select few individuals, or even place you in the game itself," Minaka's smile widened as the fox snarled at him, "You see, since you've been here, we've been syphoning off what power you have left, and transferring it to a certain items in our possession." Kurama's glare could have melted steel had it not been for the spelle tags in place, "As for you, my friend, once we've weakened you enough...let us say that you will be more...fun-sized."

Kurama slammed his fist against the glass, rocking the entire building, "_You had better hope that you destroy me, Human, because when I get out of here, you will know the pain of a thousand years in hell!" _

Minaka simply kept the smile on his face, "I look forward to it, actually, future Sekirei #X-01."

=x=

"Ashikabi-sama certainly likes ramen," Yashima smiled as Naruto grabbed multiple bowls of instant ramen, "Shouldn't we get something else for Sasuke-san?"

Naruto looked at her with his arms full of ramen, "Like what?" Yashima giggled, "What's so funny?"

She pointed at his load, "Do you realize you could feed twenty people with that armful?" Naruto looked at his choices, shrugging.

"This'll probably last me all night," he said, much to the girl's confusion. "But was there something you wanted, Yashima-chan?"

"Well," she looked around, and spotted something at the counter, "Oh, there's some half priced bentous over there!" She grabbed his hand, forcing him to drop his bounty, "They'll be much better than cup ramen!"

"No way," Naruto grinned, "Ramen is totally the food of the gods!"

Yashima giggled again and started filling her basket with as many boxes as she could manage, "Trust me, Ashikabi-sama, these you don't even have to cook since they're already prepared, and you'd have to wait about three minutes for the ramen to cook."

Minutes later, the pair walked out of the store, laden down with bags. Naruto had gotten at least a few cup ramen bowls, but had to admit he was just looking forward to eating something.

"Hey, Yashima-chan," the girl turned her attention to him, "I've been meaning to ask...what is an Ashikabi, anyway? I mean, you kissed me and then, well I felt this really warm feeling in my chest, like we were...I don't know how to describe it...like we were joining."

Yashima blushed happily. "An Ashikabi is the one we Sekirei are meant to be with," she explained, "We actively look for the one that makes us feel a warmth within ourselves, knowing that person is our destined one...but it doesn't always turn out the way we want it." She sighed, looking down as they walked, "A lot of other Sekirei are forcibly winged by Ashikabi that just want our powers. I'm sure that man Sasuke-san dispatched would have done exactly that. Once we are winged, we cannot disobey our Ashikabi, even if we wanted to. Our Ashikabi's word is final."

Naruto looked at the girl in question, "Woah, wait, so you're saying that if that guy had kissed you, you'd be with him? No matter how much you didn't want to be?"

"Yes," Yashima nodded shamefully. "I would have wanted to be eliminated as soon as possible."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that. "It didn't happen, so don't worry about it." He said in way of comfort, "You don't need to worry about that anymore, because I'll protect you now."

Yashima shook her head, "Now that I've got my wings, I can fight in the game, too." She said, pumping her fist, "I may not be strong, Ashikabi-sama, but I'll do my best to make you happy!"

"And I don't want to see you hurt because of some stupid game," Naruto said gently, "Look, I know we barely know each other, but...I really want to protect you, Yashima-chan!"

Yashima blushed, and smiled at him as she leaned against his shoulder, "My Ashikai-sama is so kind."

Naruto sighed, a slight tint to his cheeks, "Could you just call me Naruto? This Ashikabi-sama skit's a little...embarrassing."

"But a Sekirei has to show her respect for her Ashikabi!" Yashima said vehemently.

Naruto laughed, "Respect? What's that?!" He brayed, shaking with laughter, "I haven't had any respect since the day I was born! Ha!"

"Could you be any louder?" Sasuke's voice drifted to them. Naruto grinned and looked up into the trees, "Seriously, Dobe, the easiest thing to do when someone's looking for you is to just listen for that loud mouth of your's!"

Naruto just kept grinning as he saw that Sasuke now had a companion, "So, what happened to you two?"

Sasuke just jerked his thumb at Akitsu, "I don't know how to wing her, and she already tried a few minutes ago." Akitsu looked down in depression, "I'm afraid it's hopeless."

"Ah...I'm sorry." Akitsu sighed.

The Uchiha gave her a solemn look, "Don't blame yourself. Maybe I just wasn't the one to do it." He said, then dropped down from the branches, "Anyway, I didn't wanna leave her there, dressed like that," he said, indicating Akitsu's state of dress, or lack there of. "After that other guy, who know's what other pervs are on the loose?"

Naruto grinned, "That's not a bad idea, Teme," he said, and help up one of the bags, "Come on, we've got the food, so let's find a place to dig in. It might even help us unscramble our chakra systems?"

=x=

Meanwhile, high above the foursome...

"I'm sorry," Musubi said, "I was so excited, I didn't think about how we were going to fet down."

=x=

Naruto and the others had just finished eating when two distinct screams came from above them. Not a moment later, two people came falling out of the sky, crashing into a tree in a yard across from where they were sitting. "Okay, does anything normal ever happen in this place?"

Sasuke gave his friend a look, "Define normal for us, Dobe."

"Good point," Naruto said, "Think we should check on them?"

Sasuke shrugged and got to his feet followed rather closely by Akitsu while Naruto hopped off the wall he and Yashima were sitting on.

Naruto and Sasuke peeked over the wall around the yard and found a young man lying on the ground beneath a shapely young woman, "Are you okay, Musubi-chan?" He groaned.

"I'm fine," Musubi said, embarrassed, "Sorry, Minato-sama."

"Talk about a fall," Naruto commented, drawing their attention, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that girl in your lap's a Sekirei, right?"

"Ah," Akitsu said as she popped up beside Sasuke, "Sekirei #88, Musubi."

"Hi, Musubi," Yashima said, "You found your Ashikabi?" She asked, looking at the surprised Minato.

Just as she was about to answer, a woman with lavender hair stepped out of the house, followed by a tall white-haired male, "Goodness, what's all the noise about?"

"Seems we have guests," the man said.

=x=

"Hiroto-san, we have reports that Sekirei # 84 has been winged," one of the lab assistance said, "But we've yet to find any data on her Ashikabi."

"Really?" Minaka smiled in interest, "Do we know anything about him at all?"

"Only that he appears to be a man with blond hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, and three whisker-like scars on the left and right sides of his face." The assistant said, "Also, it appears that the scrapped number is in the same area as he is at the moment. We don't know if she's allied herself with him or not."

Minaka smiled wider as he started typing, looking over the physical in front of him, "Interesting. We'll have to wait and see what that brings, won't we...oh, give that little snot a push in Akitsu's direction, would you? It'll make things slightly more fun for them, I think."

"Yes sir," she said, the looked at the data, "Sir, if you don't mind, what is that?"

Minaka smiled ever wider, "This, my dear, is an artificial Sekirei I'm working on...she will be my finest work when she's ready to enter the game!"

* * *

_**Well, that's chapter two, and you all see that Kurama's in deep ****, also, to answer a question**_

_**Naruto's Sekirei: Yashima - Kuruse - PENDING**_

_**Sasuke's Sekirei: Akitsu - PENDING - PENDING**_

_**Suggestions, opinions, I wanna hear it all!**_

_**Don't forget to review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**3: Sake, Sekirei and Hot Water**_

* * *

Naruto sat out on the deck overlooking the yard of Maison Izumo. After all had been said and done, the owner, Miya Asuma, had allowed them to stay along with the other couple of Minato and Musubi. Minato, having found out that they were also Ashikabi, made the mistake of trying to warm up to Sasuke, but the stoic Uchiha had, of course, given the man the cold shoulder.

Naruto found it funny, because that was the way Sasuke had always been. Though, to Naruto, Minato seemed to be a positive person, if anything just a little spineless. Musubi seemed to complement him though. She was bubbly and energetic, always willing to help, or try to, anyway, given that she challenged poor Yashima to a fight as soon as she recognized the girl.

Lucky for her, Naruto had quickly intervened before Musubi could throw the first punch, or Yashima could bring the hammer down...literally. _How can a girl that small even move that thing? _He laughed, before rolling up his sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo. He attempted to channel a small amount of chakra into the seal, which was easy since using chakra was more basic than basic academy training. The seal glowed and out popped a bottle, and small Sake dish.

It was only on rare occasions that Naruto actually drank, having started after his sage training in Mt. Myoboku, quiet moments when he wanted to relax, and forget his sorrows.

Sasuke came out of the Inn as Naruto was pouring for himself, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the alcohol, "Since when do you drink?"

Naruto gave him his notorious foxy grin, "Since when do you care?" He asked before tipping the dish back, "Ah, that hits the spot!" He poured himself another dish, "So, crazy day, huh?"

"You could say that," Sasuke sighed as he took a seat beside his one-time friend, "Be honest, Dobe, what do wanna do about this Sekirei plan? I can't imagine you're gonna let Yashima fight, huh?"

Naruto looked down at the sake in his dish for a moment before throwing it back and swallowing. "I'll tell you what I want to do," Naruto grumbled, "I wanna storm this MBI place and knock the hell outta whoever thought this whole thing up." He said, thinking of the girl's smiling face when they had become Ashikabi and Sekirei, and, of all things, how she was starting to make him feel. Sure, he'd had a huge crush on Sakura for who knows how long, and then there was Hinata...but Yashima was something different.

Sasuke reached out and took the dish from him after he'd refilled it a third time, "So what's stopping you?" He asked as Naruto pouted at the stolen drink, "If I know you, the first thing you would've done was storm the place. So what gives?" He made the mistake of downing the drink in his hand, "PFFT! What the hell's in this?!"

Naruto brayed with laughter, "Aw, what's the matter, Sasuke, can't hold your Sake?"

"This isn't Sake!" Sasuke snapped, shoving the dish back at him, "It's paint thinner!"

"It's Sake from the toads," Naruto grinned as he refilled for himself again, "They make it from their own type of rice only grown on the mountain, and add a special hornet venom to the mix when it fermenting."

Sasuke literally turned green from the explanation, and made a mental note to never drink anything he saw Naruto drinking ever again if this was his sort of taste. "You didn't answer my question, though," Sasuke said, resisting his gag reflexes.

The blond shrugged, "Honestly? I'm worried about Yashima-chan. She told me that those guys did something to her before she was let loose to find me so they could track her...and if they have a way of tracking her, then there's also a chance they could hurt her through the same way."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, that's a pretty good observation coming from you. Maybe you're not such a dobe after all?" He smirked.

Naruto huffed, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Teme." He said, taking another drink, "But what about you? Couldn't you try winging Akitsu again?"

"I tried," the dark-haired youth said, "We kissed once, and that was that...nothing." He said, thinking for a moment, "What was it like for you and Yashima?"

The blond gained a small blush in his face, "Well, I gotta say it was incredible...When she kissed me, I felt...warm...and I could feel her chakra moving into me, and latching onto mine. When that happened, it went back to her and took some of my chakra with it."

Sasuke nodded, "Then you gave her her wings." He said, still in thought. "I thought I felt something trying to draw on my chakra when she kissed me - "

"You mean you kissed her," Naruto smirked behind another cup.

" - but when I felt it being drawn into her, something blocked it," Sasuke continued, ignoring the blond's jibe, "I suppose it would mean that she is unable to complete the process on her own...I guess I'll have to help her along."

Naruto nearly spat out his Sake, "Help her along how?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I'll try again and when she draws my chakra in, I'll be pushing from my side."

Naruto snickered, "Oh? That's really forceful of you, Teme, forcing yourself on a girl like that and pushing things that far!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the blond, seeing that he a had a drunken blush on his cheeks.

"Don't tell me you're drunk?" Sasuke deadpanned, "Just how much have you had?"

"Oh, I ain't drunk," Naruto laughed, "As long as I've been drinking, I can't recall one moment when I've even been buzzed." He sighed, taking another, slower drink, "I can't get drunk. My metablism won't allow it. Add to the fact that I've got eight trouble makers inside me and it's no surprise that things like drugs, alcohol or any kind of poison work on me anymore." He set the bottle and dish down, resting his arm right arm on his knee. "I couldn't even chase the pain away when Pervy Sage was killed. I tried."

Sasuke was a little put off by this depressed side of the normally happy blond, but then again, he'd lost just as much as he had...probably more. "I've got a question, Naruto. After all these years, and the times I've nearly killed you, why did you keep coming after me?"

Naruto gave him an are-you-stupid look, "You idiot."

"What?" Sasuke growled.

"I said you're an idiot," Naruto snapped, "I've told you time and time again, it's because you're my friend, Sasuke!"

"We were never that close," Sasuke pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, "You were more of a friend than Sakura was." He said, remembering all the beatings he'd gotten, "You and I competed against each other because we wanted to be stronger than the other. In that case, I respected you. Sometimes I'd see you walking around the village, and one of the elders would be with you, pestering you about one thing or another, but you'd be off in your own world there."

"They were always pushing me toward some girl they picked out for me," Sasuke sighed, shivering at the thought of some of those girls. "I'd see you around town, too, after our missions were done, you'd always be with that kid from the Sarutobi clan, getting bugged about teaching him something new." Sasuke smirked, "I was kinda jealous of that." Naruto's eyes widened at this, and Sasuke grunted, "I mean, I never had anyone look up to me like that."

Naruto grinned at him, "That's because of all that brooding you did."

"I didn't brood," Sasuke grumbled.

"Did so," Naruto grinned again, "Anyway, I've got one for you now...why the hell did you even think about leaving the village?"

"I wanted power," the dark-haired boy said without hesitation.

"Bullshit," Naruto said, knocking him in the shoulder, "You had the strongest Jonin ninja in the entire village teaching you, and you left that for a maniac hell bent on using you for your body. You can't tell me you thought that was a good idea?"

Sasuke grimaced, rubbing the spot where his old curse mark had been. "It's hard to explain."

"I'm listening," Naruto crossed his arms.

Sighing, Sasuke sat back, looking up at the sky, "If I'm honest, I think it was because of something my brother said to me the night he killed off our clan. He told me to hate him...and I did. I hated him with all of my being. It's what kept me going after that night. It's the night I stopped being a kid."

"Okay," Naruto said, taking up the bottle again, and passing the dish to Sasuke, "So what?"

Eyeing the dish a little warily, he sighed and took it, "When we became team seven, I was determined to get stronger, and one day go after him. I thought you and Sakura were just a hindrance. But the way you would always try to one-up me, and how Sakura would try and nose her way into my heart, I...started to forget my hatred." Sasuke growled and downed the dish, resisting the urge to gag. The alcohol rushed through him, and right to his face. "GAH! Really, how do you drink this stuff?!"

Naruto thumped him on the back, "You just do." Naruto said, "And it's a good thing that you were forgetting your hatred. It's never done anything good in the world, I mean, look what happened to Asura and Indra."

"Yeah, but at the time hatred's all I really had," Sasuke said, setting his dish down, only to receive a sharp crack on the head from Naruto, "OW! What the hell was that for?!"

Naruto just glared at him once more, "For being an even bigger idiot than before!" He growled, nursing his sore hand and a large lump formed on Sasuke's head, "Saying all you had was hatred, gad! You had me, Sakura, and Kakashi, and all the other rookies we worked with. You call that nothing?"

Before Sasuke could come up with an answer, he was saved by Naruto's new Sekirei. Yashima came around the corner, her hammer trailing behind her, "Ashikabi-sama, Miya-san says the bath is ready for you. Shall I scrub your back for you?"

"Urk," Naruto blushed, "Uh, Yashima-chan, I think I can manage on my own, thanks."

Yashima cocked her head like a puppy, "Aw, but why? My adjuster said that men like it when women wash their backs for them."

"I just bet he did," Naruto growled under his breath. "I appreciate the offer, Yashima-chan, but Miya-chan's rules say no lewd actions, and that counts as something lewd."

"It does?" Yashima pouted cutely.

"He's right," Sasuke grinned, "Though, I'm pretty sure, Dobe here would like it a lot."

"Not helping!"

"Why is it considered lewd?" Yashima asked.

"It's normally done by married couples," Sasuke explained.

"What are...married couples?"

Both young men face faulted on that one. "Let's just go take a bath." Naruto groaned, picking at his clothes, "We probably reek by now, huh?"

"Kinda," Yashima put in shyly.

=x=

"Man this feels great," Naruto sighed, "I can't remember the last time I had a proper bath!" He said, sinking lower into the water. "The war kinda screwed everything up for us, didn't it?"

"No kidding," Sasuke said, "I don't even think I had time to clean up after I had my eyes transplanted. After all that, it was all about the fighting."

Naruto crossed his arms behind his head, thinking, "You think we'll ever get back?"

Sasuke shrugged as he scrubbed his hair, "No idea." He said before dousing himself, "I'd say the whole thing was one big accident. It's lucky that we're even alive after getting sucked into that black hole."

"Guess you're right," Naruto sighed, "Too bad, I'm gonna miss everyone...hell, I'll even miss all the beatings I'd probably get from Sakura!"

Sasuke turned at him with a small look, "Isn't that pushing it?"

"What? You can't tell me you're not gonna miss anything?" Naruto laughed, splashing water at him, "Cold-hearted you may act, but you're not as mean as you make yourself out to be. Akitsu-chan proves that much!"

"The only thing I'm actually gonna miss is watching Sakura pulverize you on a daily basis," Sasuke said as he stepped into the bath, avoiding a splash of water from Naruto, "Besides, its not gonna do any good to dwell on it. If we can't go home, we can't go home. Simple. Besides, you'd have to leave Yashima behind."

Before Naruto could say anything, the door slid open, and Minato entered, "Mind if I join you?"

"Fine by me," Naruto grinned, "Just don't turn your back on Teme over there," he gesture toward Sasuke, making the newest male grow pale while Sasuke glared.

"And what does that mean?" He growled at the blond, "You do realize I prefer women, right?"

Naruto grinnned wider than ever, "Really? Then how is come you never had a girl friend?"

"I've had plenty, thank you," Sasuke snapped, "What about you, Mister Virgin?!"

"Guilty," Naruto grinned.

"And you can say that with a smile?" Sasuke asked.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, "I've got no shame."

Minato chuckled, "You two sure do get along. Are you brothers?"

"Not even close," both young men said, waving off Minato's question.

"More like bad friends," Naruto said.

As Minato rinsed off, it wasn't long before he joined them, "Well, I kinda envy that sort of relation. I've only ever been close to my sister, and Musubi-chan, now. And that was probably a total accident."

"Musubi's the name of your Sekirei, right?" Sasuke asked, "How did you two meet, anyway. Yashima ran into Naruto here at the park, and I found Akitsu not far off from there, and I think Yashima was just wandering around."

Again Minato chuckled, "Well, she kinda fell into my life." He said, smiling as he scratched the back of his head, "Two other's were chasing her, and I guess she jumped off a really high building to get away from them, and I just happened to be standing in her flight path. She landed right on top of me!"

Naruto snickered, "Man, that sounds totally cool, girl comes flying out of no where and lands right in her man's lap!"

"I'm glad you can laugh about it," Minato sighed, "I was totally terrified of those two lighting girls...the looked like they'd just walked out of an S&amp;M shop."

"Damn," Sasuke muttered. "And all Akitsu had was a bloodied lab coat."

"You're complainging?" Naruto asked, "All Yashima did was panty-flash me," he sighed, sinking deeping intot he water, "Ever notice how innocent they seem to be?"

Minato nodded, "I noticed it the first night Musubi stayed with me," he blushed, recalling how the girl had walked right out of the shower naked, complaining that they'd run out of shampoo.

"Yashima said something about adjusters teaching them about the outside world," Sasuke put in, "I'd have to guess that they weren't exactly leading a very educational life where ever they were."

Minato and Naruto nodded, "So...what're your thoughts on this whole thing?" Minato asked, "You really think we have to make them fight?"

Naruto huffed, leaning back on the tub, "I ain't makin' Yashima-chan do anything. She wants to fight, then she will, but I won't tell her to go looking for trouble!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "I think Akitsu's been through enough. Hell, she doesn't even have any proper clothing! And since I can't give her wings, then I have no right to ask her to fight for me, nor would I even if I could."

Naruto grinned at his friend, "Aw, does widdle Sasuke-kun have a soft spo- GAH!" Naruto yelped as Sasuke threw a bucket at him, "WHAT THE HELL'D YOU DO THAT FOR!"

Sasuke growled right back at him, looking for a fight while Minato tried to get between them.

"Now, now, we really shouldn't fight in a bath house, you know?" He said, trying to disarm the situation, "Besides, Miya-san will -"

"Minato-sama!" Musubi's voice cut through the room as the door slammed open, "Why didn't you tell me you were in the bath! Musubi wanted to help you wash your back!"

Minato immediately dunked into the water, "MUSUBI NO! I already told you before I can wash myself!" He yelped as Musubi literally bounced her way in. Naruto, forgetting all about his anger at Sasuke could only stare.

"Damn..."

Sasuke was no better, "You lucky bastard."

Musubi, of course, totally misunderstood them, "Don't worry, Musubi brought Yashima-nee and Akitsu-nee along so they could wash your backs too!"

"What?!" Sasuke squawked.

"MUSUBI!" Naruto yelled as both ducked back into the water up to there noses and the other two Sekirei came in, both clad in towels like Musubi.

"Ashikabi-sama," Yashima greeted as she saw the blond head poking out of the water, "Please come out so I can wash you!"

"No thanks," Naruto shook his head, "I'm fine, I've already washed!"

Akitsu was looked at Sasuke as he tried to shrink, "Ah...Sasuke-sama - "

"What he said," the pale boy said, jerking his head at the blond, "You girls can go now...please?"

"Ah...unacceptable," Akitsu said, "I must preform my duties to you, my Ashikabi-sama." She advanced into the room right behind Musubi, who was making her way toward Minato...and not watching where she was going.

"Kyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Musubi's foot trod on a freshly used, and extra slipper bar of soap, sending the poor Sekirei flying toward the tub...and right toward Naruto!

"Yeow!" Naruto scrambled out of the way as Musubi splashed down, knocking him over the side of the tup and flat on his stomach.

"Ashikabi-sama!" Yashima yelped.

"No, stay - Oops..." As Yashima tried to get to him, her feet slid on the soaked floor. Yashima stumbled backward, and probably would have hit her head on the floor badly, if Naruto hadn't acted out immediately scrambling underneath the girl to catch her. "Oof!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ashikabi-sama!" Yashima yelped.

"Ah..." something fluttered in front of Naruto's face, "Your towel, Yashima-nee."

"Geh..." Naruto reddened, feeling something very soft on his back, and, unfortunately, so did little Naruto. "Someone just kill me now."

"Me first," Sasuke grumbled as he reached for his towel, "Uh, Akitsu, would you close your eyes please?"

"Why?" Akitsu asked.

"Musubi-chan, please!" Minato yelped, "Put your towel back on!"

"My goodness," and eerily familiar voice said from the door, "I had thought you were all decent young people, but after seeing such lewd behavior - "

"Miya-san, it's not what it looks like!" Minato yelped, "We weren't doing anything!"

"Yashima-chan, put your towel back on!" Naruto squeaked, trying in vain to keep his own modesty intact.

"I'm sorry," Yashima said, "I'm so sorry!"

"Just get outta here!" Sasuke roared, finally fed up, "Can't a guy take a bath without a total cluster- "

"I do not abide by that language either, Sasuke-san," Miya said, a dark aura appearing around her visage as she turned to the girls in the room, "As for you three," the girls jumped, "i do believe the boys are using the bath at the moment, so it would much more polite to await your turn, as proper young ladies should, am I right?"

Musubi pouted, "Aw, but we just wanted to wash their backs..." She said, then eeped when teh aura around Miya turned into the face of a hanya, making the whole room grow cold. Even Sasuke shivered.

"I will remind you once that lewd conduct is not allowed," Miya said sweetly, "failure to comply means no breakfast for you, Musubi-chan."

"AW!"

"But only if you don't leave now, and proper clothe yourselves," Miya said, giving the girls ample time to scurry out of the room. She then turned her attention tot he boys, who gulped, "Now, then, you three enjoy your bath, but do try to hurry, as it seems the girls are quite anxious."

"Yes ma'am." Was the resounding answer.

Satisfied that the rumpous was quelled, Miya left them, causing the boy's to let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that is one scary woman," Naruto sighed as he picked himself up off the floor, "She's even scarier than Granny Tsunade!"

"For once," Sasuke muttered, "I think I have to agree with you, Dobe."

=x=

"So, there's a special Sekirei that's up for grabs," Hayato said into the speaker of his cell phone, smiling thinly, "Interesting. And where might I find her?...The North, you say? I hear that many Sekirei are in that area, along with several new Ashikabi...Ah, I see, you want me to figure out who #84's new Ashikabi is while I'm there. Very well, I'll go myself this time. Mutsu will most likely want the exercise."

Mutsu, Sekirei #4, looked at his Ashikabi in interest, "Mikogami-sama?"

Hayato snapped the phone shut, "Get ready, my friend. We're going hunting." The young man sneered.

=x=

On his end of the phone, Minaka smiled, "Now, let's see what you're made of, Golden Ashikabi, and Ashikabi of the North." He smiled, then turned around to the tank behind him, "It won't be long now, my pretty X-01." He said to the entity inside, "Only a month, and you'll be ready for your new consciousness...yes, indeed the demon fox will make a wonderful addition!"

* * *

_**For those of you that are wondering "Why did you give Sasuke a single digit like Akitsu?" It's simple. For one, she's always the first Sekirei besides Musubi, perhaps, to be pared with Naruto in a crossover, and two, I've yet to find Sasuke in any Sekirei crossover...I've looked. Anyway, in the way of Sekirei, there's been a line up change.**_

_**Naruto: Yashima - PENDING -PENDING**_

_**Sasuke: Akitsu - PENDING -PENDING**_

_**Note: Minato still gets his Sekirei. It's just too hilarious to watch him flounder.**_

_**Drop a review if you liked it!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**4: The Demons of Maison Izumo**_

* * *

All was quiet in the Izumo inn that evening as Naruto lay in his bed, sighing in comfort as he enjoyed the feeling of the mattress beneath him. "This world certainly has better comforts than what I'm used to."

After the fiasco in the bath, all three boys had retired for the evening, Sasuke in the room right next to his, while Minato was on the ground floor. For once, Naruto felt like he could relax, and not have to worry about someone trying to get him for what he was carrying. Sure, he worried about the Sekirei plan because of Yashima, but there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect her.

Add to the fact that he could feel his chakra system slowly working itself back into place, and he would soon put the fear of whatever gods the people hear believed in into Minaka Hiroto, just as soon as he found out what he looked like.

Another worry, though, was what he was going to do about finding Kurama. Seriously, how hard was it to find a massive fox in a city full of people? Naruto sighed and rolled over to face the wall, intent on sleeping.

At least until his door slid open. Normally, he would have jumped the person for entering, but his nose let him know that it was a friend...or more so. Yashima's sweet scent drifted to his nose, smelling of honey and soap, as she made her way over to him.

"Ashikai-sama?" She whispered shyly.

"I'm awake," Naruto grinned, rolling onto his back, and blushed upon taking in her appearance. It was nothing risque, but she certainly looked cute. Miya had loaned her a pair of pink, Yashima's favorite color, pajamas. "That looks good on you."

Yashima flushed in pride, "Miya-sama was nice enough to let me use some of her old ones." She said, giving him a little twirl to show off, "Akitsu has one, too, but..." She blushed again, in obvious embarrassment. "I think she borrowed those from one of the other tenants...it was really fluffy."

Naruto grinned crookedly, "Fluffy, huh? Bet Sasuke's gonna like that."

At this, Yashima looked slightly worried, "Would Ashikabi-sama like me to wear something similar?"

In answer, Naruto scooted over on the bed and motioned for her to crawl in. Yashima beamed and hurriedly joined him, snuggling right into his side without so much as a care as she pressed against his bare chest. Naruto chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her, "I could care less about what you wear, Yashi-chan. I'm just...overwhelmed that you chose me...and I can tell that you care about me," he said, stroking the girl's hair gently, "I can feel it!"

Yashima all but purred under his touch, "Yes, it's the bond we Sekirei have for our Ashikabi. Musubi is the same, because she and I just feel so much love for our Ashikabi." Her face reddened as she looked up at the stunned blond, "I feel so much love for you, Naruto-sama, and I'm so happy I chose you!"

She crawled her way up his chest to place a brief kiss against his lips, causing her wings to fill the room with their blue light before fading away as she drew back, smiling shyly at him, "I love you, Ashikabi-sama."

That snapped the proverbial thread in Naruto's mind. He wrapped the small brunette in his arms and crushed her in his arms, startling her. She looked up at him worry, though, when she felt him trembling.

"The last person who said that to me, lied," he said, thinking of Sakura, "And the person before her, I watched get cut down right in front of me," his thoughts turned to Hinata. He looked her in the eyes, his own blue orbs swirling with untold emotion, "Don't say that to me lightly, Yashima-chan. I don't think I could live with it if I watched you get hurt."

Yashima shook her head, "I'm not lying."

"I know," Naruto said, pressing his forehead down on her's. "I'm just worried about this whole Sekirei plan...isn't there anyway to get out of it?"

"No," she said, "I think leaving the city is the only way, but I want to fight," Yashima said without conviction, "To show you that I'm strong, and worthy to be your Sekirei."

Naruto's eyes softened at that, and the blond leaned down to press his lips lightly against hers. Yashima hummed in pleasure as her wings appeared once more, fading even as Naruto deepened the kiss, taking her bottom lip between his, and stroking it with his tongue. Yashima squeaked in alarm, opening her mouth on instinct, and allowing him to invade, flaring her wings once again as the new kiss took hold of her.

Naruto wasn't the most experienced at kissing, that much was far too obvious to him in the sloppiness happening between them, but he had been forced to read most, if not all, of Jiraiya's books, so he had a pretty good idea about how to go about it.

His tongue explored her mouth thoroughly, yet not so much a to make her uncomfortable with the feeling, which made the girl shiver. Whether she liked it or not, she didn't show, but she did wrap her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. On that positive note, he took action again and teased her tongue with his own. This time she gave out a small moan into his mouth as she tried to imitate his movements.

Until that moment, as Yashima tried to engage him, his hands had remained stationary, but began moving over her slim frame, letting him feel her. Yashima didn't seem to mind in the least if her moans were proof of anything. Her hands were not idle either as they dragged through his hair, and over his cheeks.

Soon, however, the need to breathe again broke them apart, both dragging themselves away, breathing heavily, a thin trail of saliva connecting them still. In the midst of their passions, Yashima had wound up underneath him, thoroughly messing up her clothes, half of the buttons on her shirt popped open, giving Naruto quite a view of her skin. Honestly, he couldn't decide which was more sexy; his Yashima clad in nothing but a towel, or her beneath him, red-faced and panting from his kiss while her clothes were askew.

Of course, Naruto had a problem of his own at the moment, and innocent little Yashima would be less innocent if he followed through with said problem's release. Instead, because he wanted to take his time with her, he pressed his head against her once more, catching his breath.

"I'm happier than I've ever been," he told the winded girl, "I've lost so much in such a short time, but...I can't bring myself to actually want to go back to it all...not unless you were with me."

Yashima smiled and reached up to stroke his cheek, "I would follow Ashikabi-sama anywhere."

Naruto chuckled, "Lucky for you, I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while."

=x=

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" Sasuke asked after coming awake when Akitsu made her bed on the floor of his room. Akitsu had, at some point in the night, probably not so long ago, come into his room and found him sleeping. Deciding not to disturb him, she found and extra fuuton stored away in the room's closet, and laid out beside the bed.

Normally not one to wake during the night, Sasuke had nearly trod on the poor girl when he rose, feeling uneasy.

Akitsu looked up at him with bleary eyes and rubbed some of the sleep out of them, "I'm sorry to have woken you, Sasuke-sama, but - "

"Cut the Sasuke-sama crap," Sasuke said not unkindly, "I never did like that, so just use my name. And you didn't wake me, I was just feeling a little edgy." He said, looking back down at her, "Now why are you sleeping on the floor?"

Akitsu blushed, "I have not earned the right to share your bed, Sasuke-sama."

"Call me Sasuke-sama again, and I'll be angry," Sasuke said, and this seemed to work with the 'broken' Sekirei, for she didn't wish to anger him, "And I will decide whether you are worthy or not...now come up here."

Akitsu looked stunned, "But I'm -"

"Come up here," Sasuke sighed, making room for her. Only hesitating a moment, Akitsu slowly crawled up onto the bed with Sasuke, the boy sleeping with his back to her, seemingly dead to the world once more.

The Ice Sekirei laid down beside him, moving as close to him as she dared, fearing she might upset him. Finally, she cuddled up next to the boy, resting her head against his back. As she did, she felt an inner turmoil rolling through him. Anger, sorrow, regret, longing; she could feel it all. The idea of someone having all of this bottled up inside them was enough to make even her tremble.

She reached up and took hold of the loose shirt he wore to bed, "I wish I could be your Sekirei...so I could heal your pain."

Sasuke let out a breath, "No one can heal my pain," he said, surprising her, "I've done so much in my life that my hands are saturated in blood. My brother, my home, my best friend, all of them have felt my wrath, yet the man I know as my best friend still sees me as such." He said, then rolled over to face her, "My soul is as black as night."

"Ah," Akitsu blushed heavily at Sasuke's closeness, "that isn't true."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, "How would you know?"

"Because you...took someone like me...who is broken, and useless," Akitsu began, but was unable to finish as Sasuke grasped her by the shoulder.

"Don't say you're worthless," he growled, looking into her brown eyes. "I don't care if you can't be winged, or not. If you're with me, then I see you as someone strong, and worthwhile."

Akitsune gave him a small ghost of a smile, and nodded, "And that is why I've come to love you." She said, startling the Uchiha, "Love is what binds us to our Ashikabi. I'm sure that it is different with humans, but to Sekirei, a bond of love is formed the moment we are winged by our chosen Ashikabi." She looked down in shame, "As a scrapped number, I was denied that. But the fact that you tried made me happy."

Sasuke looked her for a long moment, his coal-black eyes searching hers for anything other than the truth. "How do you know I deserve any sort of love?"

Akitsu blushed, "Everyone deserves love." She stretched out hesitantly, and placed a small kiss against his lips. Sasuke would have readily returned the kiss, except for one small detail. Someone was noisily padding on the roof of the inn.

Akitsu whimpered when he pulled back, but Sasuke was looking up at the ceiling, "Go wake Naruto, and tell him we've got company."

Akitsu nodded and hurried out of bed and to the door.

And that was when all hell broke loose. The back wall of Sasuke's room was smashed through by a massive figure. The man was dressed almost completely in black, and wielded a black sheathed sword, his grey eyes trained on Akitsu.

Akitsu recognized him immediately as he made a grab for her, only to flit out of the way as Sasuke's blade flashed down where his hand had been only moments ago.

Sasuke's cold gaze froze the man as if he were a bird caught in the glare of a snake. "Just what is it that you want of my Sekirei?" He demaned, the tip of his sword gleaming. "And it had better be a good reason for putting a hole in the wall of my room, or else you might need that sword of yours."

Mutsu snapped out of his slight daze and stood, "My Ashikabi bids me bring the scrapped #07, Akitsu to him." He said, and took hold of his sword, "A human like you has no business trying to stop me."

"We'll see about that," Sasuke scoffed, and darted forward, his sword screeching through the air, only to be met by the cold steel of Mutsu's blade. Sasuke was more than a little surprised. Not many could block his sword so easily.

"Sasuke-sama!" Akitsu yelled, hurling darts of ice at the male Sekirei, causing him to back off to avoid being impaled.

"You defend him?" Mutsu asked tonelessly, which was as close to surprised as he ever came. "He is not your Ashikabi, nor will he ever be."

"I don't care!" Akitsu snapped, "You may tell your Ashikabi that I have made my choice!"

Before Mutsu could answer, he got another surprise for the evening. Momo, his partner for the evening, was sent crashing through the wall behind him and into the opposite wall. Mutsu whipped around, expecting to find the Sekirei of his second target...only to find the blond Ashikabi himself standing there was an enraged look on his face.

"Someone wanna tell me why a nutty woman just tried to impale my Yashi-chan?" Naruto growled, taking in the shocked expressions of Akitsu and Sasuke, and the blank look on Mutsu, "Sasuke, you havin' some kinda party, and forget to invite me? I'm hurt!"

Sasuke shrugged, "Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are," he said, "And what was that you hit that girl with? Rasengan?"

"Yep," he grinned, "but it's taking a big chunk outta me, so once or twice is my limit," he turned his attention to Mutsu," So, tall guy, what the hell are you guys doing here?"

Akitsu stood up, ice blades forming around her, "They are after me."

"And you," Mutsu answered for himself, "I was ordered to gauge the abilities of #84's Ashikabi, and obtain #07's loyalty if possible, or eliminate her."

Sasuke glowered at him, "Well, then we have a bit of a problem don't we?"

Naruto grinned manically as he raised his hand once more, chakra blazing in his palm. It was then that the pound of footsteps reached their ears, and who should burst in but none other than what could possibly be the scariest landlady in the history of any world. Miya was pissed.

"What is the meaning of all this ..." the rant was lost, however, when she saw the state of Sasuke's room. An utterly evil aura erupted from her as many demonic faces appeared behind her, her eyes gleaming with malice.

Sasuke, Naruto and Akitsu wisely shrank back from the woman. Mutsu, however, had nowhere to go except the hole he'd made. A bad choice, seeing as he knew that he could never hope to outrun Miya in that state.

"Who...is responsible...for this mess?" Miya's voice sounded disarmingly calm as she glared about the room in search of the culprit. Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, both thinking the same thing.

"He did it!" Both shouted, pointing at Mutsu.

"Damn," Mutsu bolted.

Miya was after him in an instant, shocking both ninja with her speed. "You're going to be paying for the repairs on my inn, you beast!"

More footsteps were heard and Minato followed by a half-asleep Musubi bumbled in, "What's going on in here?" He asked, "Is everything alright?"

Naruto chuckled, jerking his thumb at the hole in the wall, "Miya-chan's just dealing with a burglar."

"Honya?" Musubi mumbled, "Musubi wants to fight burglar...after breakfis..."

A loud crash resounded through the inn, shaking the foundations slightly, "Damn!" Sasuke wobbled, "Remind me not to get on her bad side!" The boy then looked at his blond friend, "Where's Yashima?"

Naruto snickered, "She's still sleeping." He laughed, "It'd take one hell of a blast to wake that girl!" He then made his way over to the downed Sekirei, "Looks like she won't be getting back up...at all. Too bad, she was a real cutie, too." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head.

"She was going to hurt Yashima, right?" Sasuke shrugged, "I'd be more worried about her than I would someone else's Sekirei."

Musubi came awake at his, "Naruto-san, you defeated a Sekirei?"

Naruto nodded as he examined the woman, dead, for he hadn't been able to hold anything back from his scrambled chakra, even though he had a small amount of control back, "Wasn't all that hard when I had the element of surprise on her."

Minato looked a little sick at what he was seeing. The Sekirei had a hole bored right through her chest. "God, what did you do to her?"

"Later," Sasuke said, pushing past the boy, "We need to find out if who sent those two is still around. And if he is, then I'm going to have a few words with him!"

=x=

Of course, Hayato was waiting just outside Maison Izumo, tapping his foot impatiently, "What's taking them so long?" He grumbled, "I want that Sekirei!"

"And what Sekirei would that be?" A chilling voice asked from above him. Hayato looked up to the see the shadowed face of Sasuke, one eye gleaming red, "You wouldn't happen to mean my Akitsu would you?" Sasuke lept down to the street, causing Hayato to let out a girlish squeal and stumble back.

Sasuke's sword was drawn as he stepped toward the Southern Ashikabi, "I don't know why you're interested in her, or how you knew where to find her, but know this," he growled as the boy tried to crawl away from him, and pointed the sword at his face, "Come near her again, or even show yourself to me, and you won't live long enough to see this game through to the end...understood?"

Hayato's eyes were white with fear as he nodded his head.

Satisfied he'd terrified the boy enough, Sasuke moved back, then the glint of a blade caught his eye. He stepped aside just as Mutsu's downward strike hit the ground where he'd been standing. Mutsu didn't attack again, merely sheathing his sword and scooping Hayato up in his arms.

The next moment, he was gone.

Sasuke smirked, "Hmph, that'll teach'em."

"Indeed," Miya's eerily calm voice startled him. "Sasuke-san, what have I said about violence inside the inn?"

"But I'm outside the inn," Sasuke pointed out, "And I got the other guy to leave, right?"

"I suppose you're right," Miya said, cupping her face cutely, "Oh, well, I suppose I'll just charge the damages to MBI. It was probably those idiots that caused this mess in the first place."

=x=

"NYA -CHOOO!" Minaka sneezed, blowing papers all over the place, "Oh, no not the order forms for next months first stage challenge!"

=x=

Akitus sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed in Sasuke ruined room, "I'm sorry...if you hadn't taken me in, you wouldn't have gone through all that."

Sasuke sighed as he patched up the wall the best he could with a spare sheet, "I wouldn't have had it any other way," he said, looking over his shoulder at the girl, "It was quite fun, scaring the shit out of that kid. And Naruto just knocked out one of the guy's Sekirei, so I'd call it a victory."

It was true, not twenty minutes after Momo's defeat by Naruto, MBI had come to pick up the body. And give Naruto a care package from Minaka, which included a thing called a credit card, and some spare clothes for Yashima.

Apparently Sasuke didn't get one for obvious reasons. _Stingy bastards. _"Anyway, it's fine the way it is...and I'd like to try winging you again, if you'd allow it?"

Akitsu looked at him with a hopeful expression, "Are you sure it will work?"

Sasuke turned and smiled at her, "Come here and find out." He chuckled as Akitsu all but flew at him. He dipped his head down to her lips and immediately felt the frigid snow woman melt in his arms. He could feel it. Her chakra entering his body and searching out his own. It latched onto his, and started pulling it toward her.

Following Naruto's advice, he forcefully pushed the chakra even as she pulled. Once it reached the barrier between them, he felt a something spark. The seal on her head, which was supposed to be on her back, glowed. The moment her chakra began to let go, he pushed. A thin layer formed over the girl, centering around her seal.

Akitsu felt an incredible heat forming around her, as if a bonfire had been lit, and it was getting hotter. The seal glowed brighter, the chakra welling up against it like a damn, threatening to overflow. Finally, it broke.

Akitsu pulled back with a gasp as her seal disappeared, and crystal-like ice-wings sprouted from her back, before shattering into snowflakes. Akitsu gave the Uchiha a beaming smile, "By the ice of my contract, the misfortunes of my Ashikabi will be shattered." Tears of joy lept to her eyes, "My Ashikabi-sama!" She hugged him tightly around the neck.

Sasuke chuckled, "I thought I told you to knock off the 'sama' bit?" He asked, pulling back to look at her, "And how am I supposed to get angry when you look so cute?"

* * *

_**Sekirei Roster!**_

_**Naruto: Yashima - PENDING - PENDING**_

_**Sasuke: Akitsu - PENDING - PENDING**_

_**Hope you liked this chapter, because next is mainly focused Kurama's predicament, and how he reaches out to Naruto! **_

_**Drop a review if you liked it!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Nice turnout for the last chapter. Now we'll see just what those four other "Tails" have been up too since they left our furry friend. Also, if you haven't noticed, Sasuke isn't the douche bag most make him out to be in this story. Why, you ask? No, it's not because he's my fav' Character. (That's Tayuya) Mainly it's because he just needed a few screws tightened up (Just short of a full shed). Also, some pointed out that Naruto killing Momo in the previous chapter withou much hesitation was out of character. Keep in mind that she was aiming to harm Yashima, and Naruto acted before he could think (as always), and still didn't have much control over his chakra, yet. **_

_**Well, enough talk, on with the show!**_

_**Kurama: Somebody save me from this maniac writer!**_

_**5: Kurama's Call**_

* * *

"A level five deactivation?" Minaka asked as the body of the unfortunate Sekirei was wheeled in, "So soon in the game, too." Across the room, Kurama was paying little to no attention to the maniac, all of his attention on the corpse. There was a scent there that he recognized. It was faint, but there was no denying it.

'_Naruto,' _the fox thought as the body bag was opened, revealing the body, and the wound. A perfect circle drilled right into the stomach, and spinal cord. _'So he survived the fall,_' he thought, _'At least now I can hope for a rescue._'

Takami walked over to examine Momo's body, "Poor thing, this wound is terrible." She said, taking note of the sizable wound, "I wonder who did this? None of the other's displayed such a destructive power before?"

"Perhaps it was #10?" One of the assistance asked, "If I remember correctly, she usually uses her veil to pierce?"

Minaka cackled, "No, no, this wasn't done by her." He said waving off any argument, "See? If it was her, the hole would have gone straight through this poor darling! As it is, she's had most of her internal organs, and ribs and spine utterly destroyed. Lucky for her this was an instant kill, or she would have been in pain for hours on end before she died!"

Takami slapped him upside the head, hard, "Don't sound so damned happy about it!" She yelled angrily, making Kurama laugh quietly, "This is the first level five termination we've gotten and we don't even know which Sekirei performed it!"

Minaka rubbed the welt on his head, "Well, I have a pretty good idea, since this was Mikogami's Sekirei at one time," he said, "I asked him to look in on #84's Ashikabi, and find out more about him since we can't find anything in the system. If push came to shove, I'm betting little Yashima stepped up and put the hammer down...get it? Put the hammer down?!" The man brayed while everyone, including a certain fox, sweat dropped.

Takami sighed, "Bad jokes aside - "

"Hey, I like my jokes!"

" - if this was Yashima, it's totally out of her usual methods since she does use that giant hammer of her's." Takami continued, ignoring Hiroto's outburst. "And I - "

A red light went off on one of the computers, "And it looks like another little bird has her wings!" Minaka smiled gleefully, "I wonder who it is this time?" He literally skipped over to the computer to pull up the file...and got the shock of all time. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Akitsu?!" Takami shouted, "After what that moron did to her?!"

"Who's the Ashikabi?" Minaka wondered as he typed, drawing a big red "UNKNOWN" from the computer screen."What?"

Kurama growled, having a theory on who it might be. '_It's got to be that damned Uchiha brat._' He thought angrily, _'Just what I need, another controlling maniac._'

"This is impossible," Tamaki said, "The data base for our network should be able to tell us exactly who wings a Sekirei within a millisecond!"

Minaka, however, began grinning, and turned to the fox, walking right up to the glass, "They came with you, didn't they?" He asked the beast, "You were in the red bolt of lightning that hit our courtyard, while these two were in another bolt, weren't they?"

"_If you already know so much, Bastard, then you really shouldn't have to ask," _Kurama huffed, ignoring the man, "_Let me tell you something, though. Should you ever meet those two, you'll wish I had gotten you first."_

Minaka just kept grinning, "Oh, I don't think they'll be able to touch me." He spun around, raising his arms, "Take the body and repair as much damage as possible!" He yelled, "Our dear friend now has the perfect vessel!"

Kurama's head shot up, a massive growl rolling through his body.

Minaka ignored it, however, "Senna-chan, remove the Tama, and bring out the remaining Jinki. They have enough power stored in them from the fox if we need to control him," he turned to Takami, "Get ready to transfer his consciousness, and wipe all memory from him. I want a clean slate when we awaken him!"

Kurama sprang at the glass, crashing into it with his claws, the spell tags sparking at the contact from his Yokai. "_Hiroto!"_ His remaining five tails flipped over his head and open jaws as he began to draw power. Much to Takami's and the other assistances' horror, a black ball formed above Kurama's mouth, compressed, and was swallowed.

Minaka turned to the beast as he ballooned out almost comically, "Ah, you finally used my name!"

Kurama unleashed his Tailed-beast Ball.

the explosion rocked the building to its foundation, but the tags in place held fast...barely. The smoke from the explosion began to clear, revealing an enraged fox, barring all his fangs at the man as he pressed against the glass.

Minaka smiled, "Oh, come now, surely you think I would have taken better precautions other than blessed seals from the shrines?" He taunted jeeringly, pushing up his glasses, "These are very special, you see. These are sealing tags that are placed on divine shrines, such as the Cave of the Sun God, or the resting place of Entei the Demon Horse. No amount of demonic energy you put out in your weakened state will be able to destroy them!" He cackled manically.

_"I will see you** burned alive** before I subject myself to becoming mortal!"_ Kurama roared, his nails scraping the glass, "_You think I would allow it so easily?!"_

Minaka smiled, wagging a finger at him as if he were an erring child, "Tut, tut, my furry friend," he smiled, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses, "Did I say you had a choice?"

Kurama growled as the dead Sekirei was wheeled away, the preparations in motion. '_Seems it's time I make use of my released tails._' Kurama thought, '_It'll be too late if I just wait for the brat to find me on his own...hell, he's probably goofing off somewhere right now!'_

=x=

"Hua~choo!"

Naruto blinked a few times as he sneezed himself awake. He sat up sleepily, looking this way and that before shrugging and laying back down to wrap his arms around Yashima's sleeping form.

=x=

Meanwhile, in the Eastern part of Shinto Teito, in one of the largest buildings, one Sekirei was having an interesting dream...and she hardly ever dreamed.

_She was standing in what looked like a forest, an old forest, untouched by man for centuries. It was beautiful. To her delight, many animals roamed the forest, butterflies fluttered in an out of the foliage, one landing on the tip of her nose, making her giggle. Suddenly, one of the animals, a fox, she thought it was called, walked up to her. _

_It gestured with it's head, motioning for her to follow it. She did. As she trailed after the little creature, it sped up, running through the trees until they were a blur, her following as fast as she could._

_Naruto was standing in a grassy plain surrounded by forest on all sides. He knew it had to be a dream, because nothing seemed to be so lush in Shinto Teito. Even if it was a dream, he still enjoyed the wind against his face, bringing back memories of his old home. Suddenly, a small red fox burst out of the forest and made a beeline right for him._

_"Kurama?" Naruto asked, and knelt as the fox neared him, wagging its tail happily. _

_A small gasp alerted his attention to a newcomer. He looked up to see a girl, no older than he was. She was...cute was the only word he could describe her. She had short, light brown hair in a bob-cut with a red bow atop her head. Her eyes were a warm brown in color, both of which were as wide as saucers at the sight of the tall blond. _

_"This...can't be happening...I already have an Ashikabi!" The girl gasped._

_Naruto blinked, "Ashikabi?" He asked, "Are you a Sekirei?"_

_The girl nodded, "Yes, I am Sekirei #101, Oriha." A faint blush dusted her cheeks, "And...I guess this means that you're my Ashikabi."_

_Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "Hang on, I already have a Sekirei, and I'm quite happy with her." Naruto said hurriedly, "I don't know how she'd take another Sekirei wanting to be with me and - "_

_"My master has winged twelve Sekirei," she admitted shamefully, "Including myself."_

_"You already have an Ashikabi?" Naruto asked._

_"Yes," she said, "But he did not let me react to him. I was forced." She looked at him almost pleadingly. "Please...if I'm reacting to you, then there's a chance I can stop being his Sekirei...please, help me."_

_Naruto bit his lip, hard pressed not to jump in and say that he'd save her no matter what, but - _

**_Find her._**_ Naruto jumped and looked down, the fox glaring up at him with familiar red eyes. **Find her, Naruto Uzumaki. Find her, and find me! **_

_"Kurama?" Naruto was stunned, "Where are you?"_

**_Don't_**_** know**,the fox said, **Not whole. **_

_"Not whole?" Oriha asked, "What does that mean?"_

**_Four tails...find four_**_** tails**...The vision of the dream began to fade. Naruto began panicking, as did Oriha. "Wait! Kurama!" _

_"Don't go!" Oriha reached out and grasped onto the blond, "Please, you have to help me!"_

_Naruto didn't know what else to do. He reached out and brought the girl tightly against him. "I will...I promise." With that, the dream world shattered. Both of them seeing the smiling face of the fox before waking._

=x=

Naruto bolted right up in shock as he came awake, sweat dotting his face and brow, "Wh-what the hell!?"

"Hmm, Ashikabi-sama?" Yashima asked, sleepily rubbing her eyes as she sat up, "Is something wrong?"

Naruto ran his hand down his face and sighed, not knowing what to tell her. Being a Sekirei, he really didn't understand their ways of thinking all that much, or their relationships with their Ashikabi...except with him and his own Sekirei. But if one man could wing up to twelve..."Yashima-chan, I think another Sekirei might be calling out to me."

That caught her attention. "Really?" She asked, then gave a small, genuine smile, "That's wonderful, Ashikabi-sama! Your lifeforce is so powerful it must have caught her attention...it is one of the other girls, right?"

"Of course it was a girl!" Naruto yelped, "Why would...wait, there are guy-Sekirei?"

Yashima giggled, "Well, yes, there are." She giggled again and leaned against his shoulder, "But this is good. You'll get stronger as an Ashikabi if you have more Sekirei."

Naruto shook his head, "And you're okay with me getting another Sekirei?"

Yashima looked up at him innocently, "Should I not?"

Naruto sighed again, palming himself in the face, "Really? I have no idea how to answer that."

"Hey, Dobe, knock it off!" Sasuke yelled from his side of the wall (what was left of it), "I'm trying to sleep!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and looked at the wall clock. "Five in the morning, huh?" He sighed, "Well, seeing as you're fine with it, and this new Sekirei might be able to lead me to my other friend, then I should probably go after her, right?"

Yashima nodded vigorously, "Yes, it is a Sekirei's one true desire to find our destined Ashikabi," she said, clasping her hands in front of her chest, "Even if we have to fight each other, the bond of our Ashikabi is something we all cherish."

Naruto smiled at her and pecked her on the forehead, gaining a happy little trill out of her, "Then I guess we'd better find her, hadn't we?"

=x=

Oriha had to make sure that she wasn't followed. If she was to find this Naruto, then she would need to make sure that her Ashikabi did nothing to stop her. Like sending a watchdog after her. Ichiya.

Sekirei #18 was probably Izume Higa's most powerful Sekirei out of the total twelve, and utterly devoted to him. She had had a power reaction to him right off the bat. Oriha still had bad dreams about all the racket they caused that night. Not to mention that she was Higa's favorite. She was always at his side one way or another.

She was currently standing nervously outside the man's office, wondering if she should disturb him or just sneak out...no, that wouldn't work. There were other Sekirei in the building under Higa's control. If they caught her...

She knocked on the door, "Higa-sama?"

"Enter," the man said tonelessly.

Oriha entered the room, smiling brightly, "Good morning, Higa-sama. Did you have something you wished me to do for you today?"

Higa sat behind an enormous oaken desk, his hands steeped in front of him as he gazed out the window behind him. At his side as always was Ichiya, his ever watchful guardian. "As it happens, I do," he said, turning to her, and her heart began to sink, "There's rumor of a powerful new Ashikabi in the city that managed to actually chase off Hayato's #5. From what I heard, he also lost one of his Sekirei, though I'm sure it was a weak one. Aside from Mutsu, all of his Sekirei seem weak."

"So what is it you wish of me?" Oriha smiled.

Higa nodded, "What I want from you is for you to find and observe this Ashikabi. His strengths, weaknesses, and the possibility of him...seeing things my way."

Oriha gave a genuinely happy aura then, "As you wish!" She chirped in a singsong voice, "I'll find him right away!"

"Don't engage him," Higa warned, "I'm not certain which Sekirei he has, yet, but if he chased off a single digit like Mutsu, then I would rather not take chances."

"Understood!" She smiled and left the room.

Higa watched as the door closed. "Kaiha."

"Yes, Ashikabi-sama?" Asked a woman in the shadows of the room.

"Follow her."

=x=

"What's taking so long?!" Minaka roared in frustration, "How hard is it to repair a small area on a corpse!"

Takami rounded on the man, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him down to face her, "Listen here, you nut, half of her lower body is torn to shreds, and you know it! It's going to take a few hours to repair the tissue damage alone, and then we have to regrow the organs so that we can replace those. And let's not forget the surgery involved. We're looking at seventy-two hours before we can try this stupid idea of your's!"

"Well, sooooorry!" Minaka whined, "I'm just excited is all! This is the first time we've had this kind of power to work with, and the means to control that power in the same room, let alone the same time frame."

"Then hold it in!" Takami snapped, and released him, "I'm not happy about playing with a dead Sekirei like this at all, so you'll forgive me if I'm a little off kilter. Adn you've still got that other Sekirei body growing in the tank back in the lab, so if we can't use this one, you've got that one as a backup, and I still don't think it'll work."

Minaka smirked, "Oh, it'll work. How are preparations on Momo's Tama coming?"

"Surprisingly well," Takami said, "We've been transfering small amounts of energy collected from the fox via the Jinki into it. It glows red instead of pink now, and seems to have almost tripled in power." She said, looking toward the caged beast, "You really think it will hold it? What if it escapes?"

"I'll have Kurasuba and the Discipline Squad around to help." Minaka said with a smile, "She's been bored lately, so this should be pretty exciting for her. Now, is there any word about our two new Ashikabi from Hayato?"

Takami sighed, "Not much, unfortunately, but I do have some disturbing news about Yashima's Ashikabi."

"Oh?" Minaka looked interested, "And what's that?"

"He's the one that killed Momo."

* * *

_**And things are about to go down! As we see here, Higa obviously doesn't trust little Oriha. Nor is Minaka happy about the wait on his little project. Now as Naruto and Yashima head out in search of #101, what's gonna happen when Kaiha(does anyone know what number she is?) get's her blades into them?**_

_**Also, before anyone goes off about little Oriha, I chose her for two reasons. She's strong, strong enough to go toe to toe with Tsukiumi, only losing to her after her Norito was activated. Two, she's afraid of snakes...you know exactly why I chose her for that! XD**_

_**Sekirei Roster!**_

_**Naruto: Yashima #84 - Oriha #101 - PENDING**_

_**Sasuke: Akitsu #07**__**\- PENDING* -PENDING**_

**_*Coming Soon!_**

**_Drop a review if you liked the chapter (Short as it was T-T)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_6: The First Tail_**

"And you dragged me outta bed for this, why?" Sasuke grumbled as he and Akitsu trudged behind the leading pair slowly. "Honestly, Dobe, what did you want me along for?"

Ahead of him, Naruto turned around and grinned, "Well, for one, it'll get us out of the inn for a little while," he said, holding up a finger, "Two, it'll give us a chance to learn how this thing works," he held up his MBI credit card, "Giving us the added bonus of getting some new clothes, or do you like the jogger look?" He asked, gesturing to himself and Sasuke. Both of whom were dressed in a red and blue set of track suits.

"Alright," Sasuke sighed, "you've made your point. But did you have to wake me up so damned early?"

"Ah," Akitsu put her two cents in, "I wanted to sleep some more."

"But, Sasuke-san, it was well past noon when we woke you up." Yashima said, smiling at the 'lazy' pair. "If we'd let you sleep any longer, Miya-sama would have gone after you herself."

Sasuke shivered, remembering the previous evening as Miya went after a retreating Mutsu. "Okay, I admit it. I wouldn't have wanted that." Sasuke relented. "But come on, we had a hell of a night last night."

Naruto shrugged as they continued on their way, "Yeah, that's true...how's your chakra doing?"

Sasuke held up a hand and channeled a small amount of chakra into it, "I've got some control back. It's coming more naturally now." He said as his hand was enveloped in the blue energy, making his Sekirei smile.

"Ah...pretty."

Naruto smiled at the ice user, "We should probably get something for Akitsu to wear, too. She can't keep using Miya-chan's clothes, right?" Akitsu blushed at this because the kimono she wore, while it was flattering, it was way too small around her chest area...not that Sasuke minded, far from it. Then again, the looks the girl was getting from other men was enough to make Sasuke wish he could use his Chidori properly.

"And finally...I really need to try and find Oriha," Naruto said, sighing, "If she's in as much trouble as she makes out to be, then -"

"Hold your horses," Sasuke said, "One thing at a time, Naruto. First thing's first." He swiped the card from the blond's grasp. "How do you use this thing?"

Yashima smiled, "Oh, that's easy. You just show it to a cashier and most of the time they do the rest, or if you use it at an ATM machine, you can withdraw money from it using the pin number on the back of the card."

Naruto felt like his brain was going to fry, "Okay...so we just use this instead of money...right?"

"Right!" The girl said, smiling at her Ashikabi. "So, clothes first?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked down at themselves, then at Akitsu. "Clothes first."

=x=

"Nothing orange!" Sasuke snapped angrily as Naruto went right for the brightest shade, "I had to put up with that damned color for way too long for you to just go right back to it!"

"Oh, come on!" Naruto yelled back, "It's my money! You're just along for the ride!"

"I don't care!" Sasuke roared, scaring the other patrons witless, "If you even look at one bit of orange clothing then I'll - "

Luckily, one of the managers came in between the quarreling pair as Yashima and Akitsu weren't sure what to do about the argument. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please!" The man said in a calming tone, "Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

"Just keep this color-blind blond away from anything remotely orange!" Sasuke said, pointing at said blond in disgust, "It's an obnoxiously bright color, and this guy thinks it's the best of the best!"

"Sunsets are orange," Naruto put in, "And watching the sunset was one of my favorite things to do!"

Sasuke bristled again, "That doesn't mean you have to dress like one!"

The manager, a balding man with a thin mustache and small beard, hummed in thought as he took in the young blond, which made Naruto nervous in a way. He felt like he was being eyed up and down like a piece of meat.

"Hmm, you have an athletic build, like that of a boxer," the man said in observation, "Lightly tanned skin...lovely blue eyes, and blond hair..."

"Uh...thanks?"

The man clapped his hands together, "I have just the thing, and it'll have a bit of orange in it!"

"Ah, man!" Sasuke groaned, walking away, "Another target!"

Of course, what the man brought out was a little different than what either boy expected. Naruto was presented with a pair of blue jeans that were slightly tight, yet not uncomfortably so, a button up blue shirt, and a brown leather jacket with orange satin lining. He tucked the jeans into a pair of laced combat boots he had picked out, and smiled as he stepped out of the dressing room.

"Wow," swooned a pleased Yashima, blushing happily. Even Akitsu had a small blush on her cheeks as she took in the blond's new look. And that settled it for Naruto. He asked for six more pairs of the jeans, and six more shirts in different colors.

"Traitor," Sasuke said to Akitsu, a small smirk on his face as the girl blushed profusely, and began stammering apologies. Sasuke took the sting away by patting her head. He would have said more to her, but the manager reappeared with an arm full of clothes for the pale teen. Sasuke couldn't argue the selection. Black jeans, a brown aviator's jacket with a faux fur collar and a white T-shirt.

Akitsu nearly followed her Ashikabi into the room, only stopped when Naruto placed and hand on her shoulder and dragged her back, thrusting her at the manager, "Think you could find something for her, too?" He asked, "The Kimono's borrowed, and she doesn't really have anything of her own."

The man's eyes lit up as all shopkeepers' do when presented with a prospective sale, let alone three. "But of course! She will be a belle when we return!"

"Ah…I am a Sek – "

"Akitsu-chan," Naruto said, "Remember what those dorks in black told us? You don't wanna get Sasuke-teme in trouble, right?"

"Ah…no." Akitsu mumbled as she let herself be led away.

A moment later, when Sasuke walked out, "Not bad, but these won't be very sturdy for combat."

Naruto gave him a small look, "You're expecting to get into a fight?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I got into a fight the moment I landed, remember? And let's not forget about that piece of garbage you were playing with?"

Naruto raised his hands in defeat, "Alright, point taken, geeze."

Yashima giggled, "Do you two always argue like this?"

"Who's arguing?" Both asked, causing more giggles from young brunette.

"Ah...Sasuke-sama?" Akitsu said, announcing her return. Sasuke turned around, and his jaw nearly hit the floor, much to Naruto's amusement. Akitsu was wearing yet another kimono, but this one fit her much better than her borrowed one. She was actually able to close it all the way, baring her cleavage from view. It was black as pitch, and had blue orchids stitched into it.

Naruto grinned and elbowed him in the ribs, "You lucky son of a -Gah!"Sasuke knocked him in the head.

Yashima giggled, "You look great, Akitsu-nee. Sasuke-san obviously likes it. Sasuke growled and Naruto noticed a slight tint to his cheeks.

"It's acceptable." Sasuke grumbled, smirking, "At least you don't have to wear Miya's smaller clothes."

=x=

Miya suddenly felt a slight spike of anger rush through her which made her cross her arms over her chest, "Hmm, something tells me someone's talking about me behind my back."

=x=

Meanwhile, not far from the two shinobi, Oriha was leaping from building to building in hopes of spotting the blond. So far, she'd had no luck at all. "Where are you?" She asked of no one in particular, "It's not easy to hide a head of hair like his."

She scanned the area beneath the building she was perched on, looking for any traces of blond hair. Though their were some wild hair styles and colors, blond was probably the rarest. Nor was anyone's hair as wild as his was...

Oriha shook of the blush that was rising to her cheeks. "Okay, this is not the time to daydream!" She told herself, smacking her cheeks. "Find him first, then you can...ugh!" She lept down from the building and down into the allies. "I wonder if this is what it feels like to react to someone?" She wondered as she came out of the shadows. She mingled into the streets of Shinto Teito, and was lost in the crowds.

Behind her, a pale figure smirked, "Reacting, huh?" Kaiha grinned, "Well, well, seems like our little princess has turned traitor." She slinked out of the ally and tailed after the other Sekirei, "Higa-sama shouldn't mind if I have a little fun with her if she's no longer loyal."

=x=

Sasuke and Naruto walked through the streets, trying not bump into anyone. "So where are we going to start looking for this Oriha girl?" Sasuke asked grumpily, yawning, "We don't really know our way around this place...like at all."

Naruto looked back over his shoulder at him, "Come on, Sasuke, quit whining. Yashima-chan and Akitsu-chan are here, so they might be able to help."

Sasuke looked at the two Sekirei, one of which was clinging happily to Naruto's arm, and hardly paying any attention. Akitsu was gazing longingly at Sasuke's arm, most likely wanting to do the same thing Yashima was doing. Sasuke sighed and offered her his arm. Akitsu smiled shyly and wrapped her arms around his. "Yeah, I'm not gonna hold my breath...look, why can't you just get a lock on her? You're a sensor, remember?"

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, I can find someone when they're trying to sneak up on me, but to find a specific person I need to know what I'm looking for. I'd be able to find you easily because your chakra's familiar. Oriha-chan I've never even met outside that dream."

Sasuke thought for a moment, "Well, didn't you say that the Kyuubi was there?"

"Yeah, so?"

Sasuke sighed, "Well, why don't you look for his chakra? I'm willing to bet he's the one that lead her to you."

Naruto blinked, then smacked his head, groaning, "Ah man! You're right!"

Sasuke smirked, "Of course I am, Dobe."

"Ah, shut up," Naruto sighed and extracted himself from Yashima to lean against a nearby wall. Closing his eyes, he expanded his chakra outward. "Hmm," the blond hummed, smirking, "This is gonna be easy. Hardly anyone in this city aside from other Sekirei seem to have a working chakra system."

"Makes sense," Sasuke said, looking out at the street, "The people here seem so detached from nature its almost scary...find anything?" He asked when he saw the blond grimace.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "There's...four signatures that look almost identical to Kurama's...except they're smaller...and one of them's close!" His eyes snapped open, "And she's not alone!" Naruto shot off the ground, and up the side of the building.

"H-hey!" Sasuke yelled as the people around them gawked, "Get back down here you idiot!"

"Naruto-sama, come back!" Yashima yelled, and leapt after him.

"Yashima!" Sasuke yelled, almost reaching out to stop her, then palmed his face, "Great...so much for keeping secrets..."

"Ah...I didn't disobey," Akitsu put in, patting Sasuke's shoulder tentatively. "Does this mean I will be rewarded?"

Sasuke looked at the snow woman, and gained a small smirk, "That depends...how much trouble do you think we'd get in with Miya?"

=x=

Oriha was growing frustrated, "I hate this! Why can't I find him?"

"Find who?" A cold voice asked, "You little lover-boy?" Oriha whipped around, and found none other than her second least favorite sister. "So naughty, Oriha-chan, plotting to leave Higa-sama for another man." Her arms morphed into wicked, scythe-like blades, both of which were primed and ready to slice into the smaller Sekirei. Oriha blanched.

"K-Kaiha-n-nee, it's not what you think!" Oriha stuttered, all the while reaching for her chakrams, "Higa-sama ordered me to - "

"I know what he ordered," Kaiha laughed, pressing her blades against the girl legs, next to her femoral arteries, "what you don't know is that he ordered me to tail you. See, he thought you looked a little bit too happy for his mission, so he had me follow you...true he didn't say what to do to you if you happened to know this Ashikabi, but, seeing as you think you're reacting to him, and the fact that you already belong to Higa-sama, well, I think he won't want you around so much...not after I'm through with you."

The blade against her left leg caught in her dress, and ripped it open, pressing right against her inner thigh. Oriha jumped back just as the blades descended, hurling her weapons at the crazed Sekirei. "I never wanted to be his in the first place!" Oriha shouted in anger, "He's deplorable!"

Kaiha cackled and flashed after her, "Ungrateful bitch, he winged you!" She slashed at her again, shredding more of her dress.

"By force!" Oriha hurled more of her blades, all of them clinking uselessly against Kaiha's arm-blades. She made it to the roof tops, and turned to run, but tripped over her ruined dress.

She then felt Kaiha's foot press down on her back with tremendous force, crushing her into the concrete roof, and making her cough up blood. Oriha used her blades to get her off, and sent them spinning at her from behind. Kaiha saw them coming and jumped clear. Oriha got to her feet, wiping the blood from her lips, "I'm not going to lose to you. I will find him!"

Kaiha grinned menacingly as she licked the tip of her right blad, "Oh, it's going to be so much fun killing you, Oriha-chan. Higa-sama never took to his bed, did he?"

Oriha blushed, "No, and I'm glad he didn't, though the bond makes me obey him, I never wanted that man's touch!"

"Oh, that's good," the blade-armed Sekirei grinned, morphing one of her arms into a straight blade, "That means I can make it all that much more painful when I slice you open...bottom...to top." She said, eyeing the girl up and down.

Oriha shivered and covered herself, "Sadistic cow!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, #101," Kaiha grinned, and launched herself at the girl as Oriha threw her blades again. Kaiha knocked them out of her path, preparing to stab her...only for a blond blur to come crashing a fist into her face. The shock and surprise on Kaiha's face as she was sent careening across the roof, crashing into the floor and leaving a trail was something Oriha would never forget. Nor was the sight she beheld a moment later.

He was just like the vision in her dream. Tall, topping out at five-foot-nine, had tanned lightly tanned skin, and three whisker-like marks on each side of his face. but his best features had to be his blond hair, and beautiful blue eyes. He stood with his fist still out and smoking from the impact against the Sekirei, "It's people like you that make me sick the most."

Kaiha picked herself up off the ground, growling, "Who the hell are you?! And how did you manage to hit me?!"

Naruto stood up straight, giving her a glare that would frighten most snakes, "Who I am is none of your business. As to how I hit you?" He placed his right hand on his hip while gesturing with the left, "Well, I guess I'm just stronger then you, aren't I?"

Kaiha roared, "Like hell you are!"

Oriha cried out as the Sekirei threatened to impale him, but the teen never moved. He raised up his hands, and caught both of her blades, barehanded.

"What?!" Kaiha snapped.

Naruto looked at her coldly, "I told you I was stronger." He kneed her in the chest, and threw her back, "Now, get out of here. And tell your Ashikabi the girl's life is now mine. Touch her again, and he will pay the consequences."

Kaiha didn't listen, and came at him again, only for the blond to disappear from sight, and then take her by the throat, pulling her up to face him. His eyes burning red with anger. Kaiha blanched, fear radiating from her body as she gazed, transfixed by those hate-filled orbs. "I _said **leave!**_" Naruto roared in a distorted voice that bared no arguments.

He dropped the girl to the floor and she scrambled back as fast as she could before turning and leaping away. All this time, Oriha was utterly stunned by the blond in front of her. Her body was shaking badly, but not from fear. She felt excited!

Naruto looked down at her with his normal blue eyes and smiled, "Nice to finally meet you, Oriha-chan."

Oriha beamed and got to her feet to hug him around his waist, "You came!"

Naruto chuckled, and patted her hair, "I made you a promise, didn't I?"

Oriha nodded happily, "I - "

"Ashikabi-sama!" Oriha was startled as Yashima came bumbling onto the scene, winded, and right behind her was a strange, pale man that eerily reminded Oriha of a snake, and beside him landed #07, "W-why didn't you wait for us?" Yashima said tearfully, her hammer swung over her shoulder, "I wanna fight too, you know?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head bashfully, his arm draped over Oriha's shoulder, "Sorry, Yashi-chan, but I wanted to get to Oriha-chan before she got hurt."

Yashima straightened up and noticed the shorter girl standing beside the tall man, "Ah! Oriha-nee! This is great!"

"You winged her yet?" Sasuke asked of the blond, "If not, then you'd better hurry, or else that one you chased off might come back with more."

Naruto gulped as he looked down at the girl, who was now sporting a small blush on her cheeks, "Uh.." he looked over at Yashima, "Are you really sure about this, Yashima-chan? This feels a little like cheating."

Yashima pumped her fist, "Of course it's fine, Ashikabi-sama, the more Sekirei you have, the stronger you'll become as an Ashikabi!"

Sasuke smirked, "That, and you could have a pretty fun threesome." Naruto and Oriha's faces burned at the Uchiha suggestion.

"TEME!"

"What?" Sasuke shrugged, still smirking. "I'm not the one with two women hanging off my arms."

"C-could we please just get this over with?" Oriha suggested, fighting down her blush, "It's really embarrassing."

Naruto sighed, seeing he was a little more than trapped, that and he wanted to figure out why Kurama had told him to find her. He turned and cupped her face between his hands. Oriha's face blazed with warm as she felt those hands, so large yet so gentle. He leaned in as she stretched out on her toes to meet him, letting her lips collide softly with his.

Immediately, something happened. A rush of energy she never knew she had surged forth and locked onto Naruto's, creating a red haze around them, and the world fell away.

=x=

Naruto and Oriha opened their eyes as their lips parted ways, and found themselves in a very different place. They were back in the forest plain they had first seen each other during their dream. But something was wrong. The grass was withered and dry, and the leaves in the trees were all brown and lifeless.

Oriha moved closer to Naruto, "What..what is this?"

"I don't know," Naruto said, holding her protectively, then called out, "Kurama!"

"_Naruto,_" the fox's voice rang out, "_Thank the sage! Listen to me, because I don't have much time! You have to save me before this madman traps me in a mortal body!"_

Naruto looked all around him, but saw nothing, "Where are you, Kurama?"

_"I don't know, Kit, but it's the place where this crazy Sekirei plan started. The man in charge plans to turn me into one. Thanks to that one you killed, he now has the body, all he needs to do is repair it. He's got me trapped by spirit wards. They're restricting my movements, and preventing me from breaking free."_ The fox said, "_I fear what would happen if he succeeded. What's more, he's watching you, Kit. He knows you came with me, and if he finds you, he might try to extract the others from you."_

"Not gonna happen," Naruto growled.

_"I'm running out of time, Kit, now listen, I'm weak right now because four of my tails were split off from me when we came through that hole. Two of them landed in these Sekirei, like the one you just found, but two of them are running loose. They may find you on their own, but then again, they may not. If Hiroto puts me into that body, those four tails are the only things that could free me. Once they're combined into one, they gain my consciousness, and I'll be able to break free of the body. But I'd rather you found me first, Kit!"_

Naruto nodded, "Alright, I get it. I'll get you outta their, Kurama. I promise!"

The withered world began to fade away, "_Be careful, Naruto. This Minaka guy is beyond crazy. Don't underestimate him."_ And with that, the voice of the great fox faded away and left the two alone to awaken.

* * *

_**Well, that update took a lot longer than I wanted, but now we know just what's happening to Kurama, and how long he has before Minaka tries to turn him into a Sekirei. And now little Oriha has joined the fray as Naruto's second Sekirei.**_

_**Sekirei Roster!**_

_**Naruto: #84 Yashima - #101 Oriha - PENDING**_

_**Sasuke: #07 Akitsu - #62 Kaie* - PENDING**_

_***Up for debate.**_

_**Reason I chose Kaie for Sasuke is because she is a whip user...who else is supposed to keep him in line? But it's up for debate. So far it's just been NO Benitsubasa, or No Akitsu. Karasuba seemed to fit, but giving him her seemed a little bit of an OP :/ Still I'm open.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to review!**_

_**Kurama: And hope to Kami I don't have to wear a skirt!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Me: I have decided! She likes to tie people up! Now, for those of you wondering about lemons for this story, yes there will be lemons, and yes, both our two chowder heads will get them. I'll put warnings up for those of you that don't want to read them, so you can skip ahead when I post such a chapter...but knowing me, I could turn a whole chapter into a lemon! XD**_

_**Kurama: Yo! Can we get on with the story? Sasuke's gonna get one hell of a headache!**_

_**Me: Of course! How could I forget?**_

_**7: Jinki #9**_

* * *

Minaka was, for once, frowning as the monitors for the Sekirei blared out an impossible reading. Oriha, Sekirei number one hundred and one, had been winged once more, by the newest abnormality in his little game. One Naruto Uzumaki, the man that could kill a Sekirei with a single blow, the man that no one seemed to know about. He was a mystery. He was a problem. He was perfect! Hiroto grinned manically. With this new Ashikabi in the mix along with the other one, things in his little game were going to get very, very interesting soon. He could feel it.

"Minaka-san," one of his assistance said, "We've repaired most of the damage to the corpse, and we believe the Jinki can reactivate the bodily functions. The only problem that could arise would be the beast." He said, gesturing toward were Kurama lay napping in his cell. "The remaining Jink are already full of its energy, and there's little to no room left to store any more of it's power. If this keeps up, then it's likely to break free."

"Well," Minaka said, smiling at last, "That won't do, will it?" He said, turning to the man. "Have the body prepared and brought in for me. We're going to go ahead with the operation, and create our Artificial Sekirei. We'll use the Jinki as Tama if we have to, but we will advance." He glanced to the fox, who had raised his head, snarling at the man. "The game just took a step up."

=x=

"Hi," said a smiling blonde girl, "Welcome to Burger King!"

The customer smiled and placed his order, and Mitsuki, once again, sighed in defeat; this was not her Ashikabi. Her manager smiled at the girl, and patted her on the shoulder.

"What's up, Mit-chan?" The older woman asked, "You look down?"

Mitsuki frowned, "Oh, it's nothing, I was just hoping to see someone...just like every other day..."

The woman giggled, "Oh, my, my, my, does out little Mit-chan have a secret crush?" She laughed as the girl blushed slightly, "Mitsuki-chan, you shouldn't worry about such things when you're so young, and so attractive, too. It's not every day that a natural blonde roams around Shinto Teito."

Mitsuki giggled herself, wondering if telling the kind woman that she was a super-powered extraterrestrial would surprise her. Still, she had been wandering the city for little over a month, now, and still no trace of a reaction. She was beginning to feel hopeless.

The bell on the door rang, signalling another customer, and the blonde adopted her smile once more, "Hi, welcome to..." She stopped short as the five that entered came into her sight. Three of them were her sister Sekirei, and two of them were obviously their Ashikabi. Oriha, and Yashima were hanging off the arms of a tall blond man with wild hair, and lightly tanned skin. His startling blue eyes were filled with laughter, brought out by the three whisker-like marks on each of his cheeks.

The other was Akitsu, surprisingly, smiling happily as she wrapped her arms around the arm of her Ashikabi...and taking him in, Mitsuki felt her heart skip a beat. He was just as tall, but his skin was a stark contrast compared to the other one. He was the shade of alabaster, with eyes as black as pitch and hair to match.

"I'm telling you, Dobe, this is a bad idea," the dark-haired teen said to the blond, "We don't even know the layout of the place, and you want to just go barging in?"

The blond looked back at him with a scowl, "What choice do we have," he hissed angrily, "Kurama's waiting for us, and we don't have that time left until that maniac's gonna start his plan."

Naruto slid into a booth with Oriha and Yashima, while Sasuke slid into the opposite side with Akitsu, "Look, Naruto, I get it. I don't want to let him use Kurama like that, and I'd like to ask a few personal questions about this so called game of his. But we can't just walk through the front door."

Naruto sighed and looked over at the counter, "What's to eat around here? Do they serve ramen?"

Yashima giggled, "You and your ramen, Naruto-sama." She got up, "I'll order for us." Naruto nodded and handed her his MBI credit card.

Oriha looked at her new Ashikabi, "Naruto-sama, this Kurama was that little fox we saw in our vision, right?" She asked, to which he nodded, "Why would the professor want him?"

Sasuke sighed, "Listen, Oriha, Kurama, to put it bluntly, is a source of infinite power." He said, keeping his voice low. "Naruto is probably the only person who can control him, well, I could, but he wouldn't cooperate with me the way he would with Naruto. If Minaka manages to harness his power, then everyone will be in danger."

Naruto crossed his arms in thought, "Kurama wouldn't allow himself to be controlled, you know that. But if he's turned into a Sekirei, then what's to stop Minaka from forcing an Ashikabi on him? According to Yashima-chan, she couldn't disobey me even if she wanted to. And that really doesn't sit well with me." He said looking at his newest Sekirei, "From just that, it sounds as if Minaka only sees you as slaves in this game of his."

Oriha shook her head, "That's not true. While we can't disobey an Ashikabi's orders, we can disagree. It's the reason we want to find the one we react to. It means that that Sekirei and Ashikabi are absolutely perfect for each other." She told the two humans, smiling at the blond, "And our Ashikabi is the only one that we can have children with. Without our Ashikabi, our race would die."

Sasuke sat back in thought, and looked at his Akitsu, "So the man you react to is the only person you can have a child with...Akitsu, what does that mean for you?"

"Ah..." The snow woman blushed, looking down at her lap, "I would have...reacted to Sasuke-sama regardless...we are the same."

Sasuke arched his brow at her, "The same?"

Akitsu nodded, smiling a shy smile at the man, "We are both...broken." She told him, "I could not be winged, but you still saw me as more than a failure, and took me into your care...and then you gave me my wings...I would like to do the same for you, Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke gave a thin smile at the woman and reached up to pat her on the head, which she leaned into like a cat. "I already told you, it's way too late for me."

Akitsu purred under his touch, "I can still try."

Naruto just crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side in confusion, while Oriha stared at the pair with stars in her eyes, and a perpetual blush on her face.

Meanwhile, as Yashima was making their order, a large one considering how much food a single Sekirei, let only three, plus two young ninja, could eat, Mitsuki was watching the same pair with a blush on her face, her eyes slightly glazed. What she wouldn't give to be under the dark-haired man's hands.

Yashima, having finished placing her order, took notice of the girl and smiled, "Mitsuki-nee?"

The blonde pig-tailed girl started from her staring and turned her face toward the hammer-wielding Sekirei. "Oh! Uh...hi, Yashima-neechan."

Yashima giggled at her sister Sekirei, "I'm glad to see you! I didn't know you'd been turned out!"

"Yeah...a couple of months now," Mitsuki sighed forlornly, "And I still haven't found my Ashikabi, yet," at this, tears started welling up in her eyes, making her eyes look big and watery. "It totally sucks!"

Yashima gave her fellow Sekirei a sorrowful look and reached out to pat her shoulder, "Cheer up, I'm sure you'll find them sooner or later."

Mitsuki nodded and looked back toward her table, "Yeah...about that...who's that guy you're with?"

Yashima blinked, "You mean Naruto-sama?" She asked, pointing back toward the blond man, "He's my Ashikabi! Isn't he great?"

"Not him," Mitsuki said, looking to where she was pointing. "The other one...the one with Akitsu-nee...and why is she even with him? I thought she couldn't be winged?"

Yashima gave her friend a sidelong glance as she peeked back over her shoulder at the other man at her table and smiled at her, "You mean Sasuke-san? He's Naruto-sama's friend, and he became Akitsu-neechan's Ashikabi, too. He's a little scary, but nice." The hammer-wielding Sekirei smiled. "Why? Are you - Oh!" She smiled when she saw the blush growing on the girl's face. "He's your Ashikabi, isn't he?" She whispered.

Mitsuki gulped, "I...I think so..." If the way she was feeling was anything to go on what her adjusters had told her about reacting to an Ashikabi, then she was very close to leaping over the counter at this point.

Then Sasuke turned toward her, feeling her eyes on him. A small frown formed on his face. "Yashima, what's taking so long? Naruto looks like he's about to eat the table."

"Coming," Yashima said as Naruto growled at Sasuke for his comments. And no sooner had she said that than her order came up, two trays laden with cheeseburgers and fries. She took both trays and smiled at the blonde, "You should say something to him. You might not get another chance." She said, "He's already been targeted by one of the other Ashikabi in the city. The fighting's gonna start up soon, and we have to find our Ashikabi...or else we might be forcibly winged by someone that isn't meant for us." She turned back to their table. "I know Naruto-sama is wonderful, and kind, and if Sasuke is his friend, then I'm sure that he is just as nice as Naruto-sama."

Sasuke sneezed just as Yashima came over with their meal, "Man, this place is seriously messing with my sinuses," he grumbled, rubbing his nose as Akitsu provided him with a napkin, "There's not enough trees around here."

"No joke," Naruto grumbled, "I can barely sense any natural chakra at all. Using Sage Mode is gonna be difficult."

"Ah..." A pause from Akitsu, "Were there many trees where Sasuke-sama is from?" She asked, her head tilted in a curious manner. Sasuke frowned as he picked up one of the burgers from the tray set in front of them, unwrapping it.

"The whole continent was basically one big forest except for the dessert to the west." Sasuke said as he cautiously took a bite...quickly followed by three more larger bites. Naruto saw this and grabbed one for himself, and started eating as Yashima and Oriha started devouring their own. Akitsu had the most subdued eating habits out of the lot of them. Naruto and Sasuke were eating like starving men, while Yashima and Oriha were eating like...well, like Sekirei.

The meal was devastated within mere minutes, what with three Sekirei working on it, along with a couple of shinobi with high food intake habits.

All the while, Mitsuki was struggling to keep herself in check. While she was told that it would be best if no one outside her Ashikabi knew about the Sekirei Plan, it certainly wouldn't do for her to attack said person in the middle of a meal.

Thankfully, she was saved from jeopardizing the plan, or embarrassing herself by her manager. Seeing the girl's flustered face and a small sheen of sweat dotting her brow, the woman naturally thought the girl was ill. "Mit-chan, if you're not feeling well, then maybe you should head home?" The woman asked, concerned, "We have enough people here at the moment, and the lunch rush is already over. You can take off."

Mitsuki sighed in relief and nodded, heading to the back to change out of her uniform.

=|MBI Headquarters|=

Kurama watched as the body of a seemingly human female was brought into the lab. The female's hair had been shaved off, leaving her bald, and she was as pale as death.

Minaka was practically salivating as the body was brought to the center of the room, "This is so exciting! The first artificial Sekirei, and I'm the one to create her!" He said gleefully, "Is the Tama ready?"

"Just finished repairing the damage," Sena said, bringing the small crystal-like core over to him, "How will we be doing this?"

Minaka grinned and turned to the cage, "Simply put, we will be using the Jinki to first reactivate the bodily functions of the Sekirei, putting her into a coma-like state until we transfer the Tama back into the body. After that comes the tricky bit. While using the Jinki, we will transfer all the power and consciousness of the fox into that Tama before returning it." He gestured to the cage where four of the remaining seven Jinki were stationed. "Four will be used to draw the beast through the Jinki, and three will be used to transfer the power into the Tama," He explained, gesturing to the three Jinki hovering over a small platform where Sena placed the damaged Tama.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Sena asked, "After all, Takami-san said that it would be best to let the body - "

"Oh, don't be such a spoil-sport," Minaka cackled, "The body is fully healed, and able to function, the forty-eight extra hours was only to give me a headache on Takami-chan's part!" The man swept his arms out wide, "Besides, this is the best chance we have! With those two newcomers in the mix, I'm willing to bet that they won't sit idly by for much longer. They're going to come looking for this fellow," he gestured wildly to Kurama. "And when they do, it will truly be a battle of the gods!"

"Sir, I doubt that those two are gods," the young woman said, backing away.

Minaka just grinned. "Oh, I have a feeling that they're more than mere humans. One of them killed a Sekirei, while another winged two Sekirei that he shouldn't have been able to." He cackled, "I can't wait to meet them!"

Kurama growled, "_I hope I'm there to see them rip you shreds."_

"Oh, I have every intention of letting you be around when they come for you," Minaka smiled at the beast, "After all, what better way to test your strength as a Sekirei than to pit you against two super beings?" He asked as the fox howled in anger, slamming against the glass. "Now! Let's see how it feels to play at being Frankenstein!"

He went over to the controls and typed in a few keys, and the Jinki over the prone Sekirei moved. Three beams of light shot from their tips, and homed in on the center of the Sekirei's chest. Within moments, the lights faded. Sena went over to check her. "She's breathing!"

"Good!" The three Jinki were moved over the Tama, "Now for the main event!"

Kurama banged his fist against the glass once more, "_Don't do this, Minaka! You don't know what your dealing with!"_

Cackling madly, Minaka powered up the Jinki in Kurama's cell, "You can't talk your way out of this, my furry friend. Besides, if this doesn't work, you'll most likely just break free and flee hee hee hee!" He cackled, "Ready? Here we go!" He slammed his fist down on the console, and the Jinki once again flared to life with an ominous light. Kurama growled as the Jinki in his cell glowed in four different...familiar colors...gold, blue, violet and red...and the feeling he was getting from them...

He was brought out his musings as they fired on him.

=x=

"GAHA!" Sasuke and the three Sekirei nearly jumped out of their skin when the blond man gave out a pained roar that was neither human nor beast. It was the sound of pure pain emitting from him as he clutched at his chest, sinking to the pavement on his knees, his eyes wide with shock.

"Naruto!/Ashikabi-sama!" They yelled, moving to his side immediately as he fell.

"What's happening?!" Sasuke asked, "What's going on!?"

"Ku-Kurama!" Naruto groaned out, his body shaking, "It-It's too late! AAAAAAARGH!" Yashima and Oriha gave out anguished shrieks as Naruto toppled over, his eyes rolling back into his head even as his body continued to writhe, his voice still crying out.

Sasuke growled and lifted him onto his back, "Come on, we need to get him back home!" Without hesitating, Sasuke lept from the ground, no longer caring who saw him, all that mattered was the friend that was in such pain on his back.

He could feel Akitsu and the others following him, and also felt another presence, but paid no attention. If it was another ploy by that Hayato boy, then he was in no mood to deal with him.

=x=

Kurama's roar shook the entire building to the very foundations as his power was stolen from him. He could feel it leaving him with each passing second, and there was nothing that he could do. He thrashed inside his cage, slamming into the walls with such force that the glass finally began to crack, but not enough to free the suffering beast.

Minaka took great pleasure as he watched the Tama glow bright red with power. It was working!

It was this sort of scene that Sahashi Takami barreled into, "What in the blue hell do you think you're doing, you maniac!?"

"Making progress!" Minaka smiled at the woman, gesturing to the crystal. "Look how it's glowing! It's going to be marvelous!"

Takami was itching to slap the man, but she was far to mesmerized by the sight of the Tama that had once belonged to Momo. It was glowing like a miniature sun, almost blinding her. Kurama's roars also reached her ears, how could they not, and she turned to the pained creature.

The sight of the beast thrashing so wildly in pain almost made her sick, "Turn it off!" Takami shouted, "Turn it off, now!"

"Not bloody likely!" Minaka cackled as Kurama began to fade, "Look! It's almost complete!" Suddenly, the fox was gone, and the glow grew so bright that the entire room was engulfed. The was a sound of shattering glass, and a snap.

Takami opened her eyes and found that the Tama had gone, replaced by...another Jinki. "Impossible..."

Minaka only grinned wider, "That's the secret...that's the true form!" He roared, looking back and forth between the cage, and the new Jinki, "Where there were once eight, there are now nine! Nine great beasts turned into the Jinki!" He cackled, "Amazing! Utterly amazing!"

Takami stepped forward to examine the crystal-like object, "Are you telling me...that all the God Vessels used to be...demons?"

=x=

Naruto's screams of agony echoed throughout the halls of Maison Izumo as the blond thrashed uncontrollably while his two Sekirei tried to hold him down until his fits passed.

"I hate this," Yashima sniffled as she held down Naruto's shoulders, "why is Naruto-sama in so much pain?!"

Oriha just shook her head, "I don't know, but I think it has something to do with Kurama-san...I could feel it...he just faded away!"

Sasuke entered the room with Akitsu and Miya in tow, "That could have something to do with it," the raven-haired teen said, making room for Miya to dab his face with a cooled cloth, "Kurama was connected to Naruto, and if something happened to him, then Narutp would know, and probably be in discomfort, but I never imagined something like this would happen."

"Ah...will he be alright?" Akitsu asked worriedly.

Naruto roared in pain once more, as if in answer to her question. Sasuke growled, unable to stand it anymore, "Hold him steady," he told Yashima, and strode toward the thrashing blond, "Naruto, I can honestly say I'm sorry for this, but - " He stood over the blond, and wrenched his eyes opened, looking into them with his Mangekyou flaring, "_Sleep until you have healed_!" With those words, Naruto's body suddenly went limp, his screams ceasing.

Yashima and Oriha looked at him. "What did you do to him?" It was Miya that asked the question. "And why are your eyes like that?" She questioned.

Sasuke stood up, sighing, "That took more out of me than I thought it would...guess I still have a little more to go before I'm back to full strength," he said, making the landlady frown at being ignored, her frame enveloping in a miasma of darkness. Sasuke looked at the woman, "That was a technique called Moon Reader. My eyes are what allowed me to use it. As to why my eyes look like this?" He gave a grim smile to the purple-haired woman, "I was first, born with the power to use them...and then I stole these particular eyes from my brother's corpse."

* * *

_**Things have just heated up! Not only is another Sekirei beginning to react to one of our heroes, but Kurama has been turned into a Jinki! A connection is made between the Tailed-Beast and the eight other Jinki, and Naruto is caught in the middle of it as his mind and body feel the effects of Kurama's disappearance. Not only that, but it looks like Miya has some questions for our young Uchiha.**_

_**Sasuke: Wait a minute, what happened to Kurama? I thought he was doing the Author Notes with you?**_

_**Me: Oh, he decided to take a nap :p**_

_**Sasuke: Tch, review.**_

**_Me: Can't you be a little more upbeat?_**

**_Sasuke: No._**


	8. Chapter 8

_**8: Truth**_

* * *

Naruto slept soundly as Sasuke and the blond's two Sekirei kept a vigilant watch over him. Akitsu was currently down in the kitchen with Miya preparing lunch for the tenants. To add to the problems that were arising, Sasuke now owed Miya an explanation of his and Naruto's abilities.

"This is bad," Sasuke grumbled, placing his hand over his eyes, "How long will he have to sleep?" He said, watching the blond breathing evenly.

Yashima and little Oriha were on either side of him, both clutching once of his hands in theirs. Yashima looked up at him, "Sasuke-san, Naruto-sama will be alright, won't he?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I really don't know." He told the girl, much to her concern, "I've seen him get through some pretty hairy stuff, but I can honestly say I've never seen him in so much pain that he had to be put to sleep." Tears started welling up in the two girls' eyes, and Sasuke groaned. He wasn't good with crying women. "Look, I put him in a sort of trance. He'll come out of it when his body feels he's been put back together in a sort. If it looks like he might do further harm, the spell will break and he'll wake up anyway, that or if his body come under attack, he'll wake up ready to fight like a demon."

There was a slight knock on the door, and Minato stuck his head in. "Sasuke-san, Miya-san says lunch is ready."

Sasuke nodded, "Tell her we'll be down in a few minutes, and stick around for yourself. I want to explain our situation to everyone."

Minato looked at the younger man, "Are you sure I have the right to hear something like that?" He asked, "We haven't known each other that long at all."

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said, sighing and pushing himself off the wall, "You, Naruto and I are all caught up in the same mess." He moved passed him, and tapped him on the shoulder lightly, "Much as I hate to admit any sort of weakness, I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to Akitsu. Much like you and Musubi." He looked back at the two Sekirei still in the room, "You two should come down as well. I'll tell you about Naruto as well."

Oriha looked at the man, "Are you sure Ashikabi-sama will be alright alone?"

Sasuke nodded, "He should be fine. Like I said, if his body sense danger, then he'll come awake on his own and raise all kinds of hell. Besides, what I have to say might help you help him in the long run. Got it?"

"We'll come," Yashima said, nodded, and stood, tucking Naruto under the covers. "come on, Oriha-nee."

Oriha nodded, following her sister out, stearing clear of Sasuke. For some reason the raven-haired teen still reminded her of a snake, something that terrified her.

=x=

Miya and Akitsu were setting the table when Sasuke and the others came down. Musubi was sitting at the table, waiting patiently for her Ashikabi, and beamed with happiness as he entered the dinning room behind Sasuke.

Miya looked at the youth as he sat down, Akitsu moving to his side, "I trust Naruto-san is still resting comfortably?"

Sasuke nodded, "I can only see what's on the surface." He said cryptically, "Whether or not his dreams are peaceful is an entirely different matter."

"I suppose that's true," Miya nodded, "Then I guess we should start things off, then?"

Sasuke nodded, "I have every intention of letting Minato know about myself and Naruto...but you are also hiding something...Sekirei." Miya's eyes narrowed at him as Minato and the others turned to her in surprise, "What? Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Sasuke asked, tapping his nose, "My senses are no where near as sharp as Naruto's, but even I can tell the difference between what you call humans and Sekirei, and you don't have the same scent as the humans here."

"Miya-sama?" Musubi asked, tilting her head slightly.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, the landlady took her seat, "It is as you say. I am indeed a Sekirei...the first Sekirei to be awakened, #01, Miya Asama."

"Thought so," Sasuke nodded, "While you do have a hint of human scent, it only masks your own. I take it it's from your late husband?"

"Most likely," Miya nodded sadly, "But I don't recall telling you of my husband, or that he had left this world?"

Sasuke sighed, "His presence lingers. He couldn't become your Ashikabi, I know this because there's absolutely no trace of foreign chakra running through you like Akitsu and Naruto's little flock," he said, jerking his thumb at Yashima and Oriha.

Miya huffed, "Yes, you are correct, but now that you have revealed all of my secrets, I demand some answers of my own."

"Ask away." Sasuke said.

"First of all, what is this chakra you're speaking of?" Miya asked, "Sekirei use a power they are born with that comes from deep inside ourselves, making use physically stronger, and sometimes giving us a special gift such as Akitsu-chan's ice, or Oriha-chan's power over her blades."

Sasuke looked at Akitsu for a moment, motioning for her to move away from him. She did so reluctantly, moving only a few feet away from him. Sasuke then looked back to Miya, "This is chakra." Miya and the others looked at the teen curiously. And a moment later a malevolent shroud erupted around him. Sasuke chakra had changed over the years from the vibrant blue hues it had once been in his youth, to a dark violet color, much like his Susanoo. "This is the power that flows through myself and through Naruto. And through you Sekirei as well." He looked to Minato, who jumped slightly, "I can even sense some within you, Minato, though it's not very strong."

Akitsu looked at her Ashikabi in wonder, a blush rising to her face. This was the same warmth that had attracted her to him in the first place. And it was that same warmth that was flowing through her now thanks to gaining her wings from him. Sasuke felt her eyes on him, and smiled at her, "I told you, my soul's as black as night."

Akitsu shivered, "Th-there's no such thing...even if you cannot see them, there are always stars in the night sky."

Sasuke looked at her with slight surprise on his face before smirking, "Woman, you are a marvel." He reached out to her and drew her to his side, obviously about to kiss her. Well, that is until...

"Excuse me," Miya said in annoyance, "But if you two could refrain from any lewd conduct under my roof, I would greatly appreciate it, or else I may have to throw you out onto the streets." She said, her dark aura returning, and a large, white Hanya mask appearing above her head.

Musubi clung to Minato while Oriha and Yashima held onto each other for comfort from the chilling feeling coming from the gentle landlady.

Sasuke, while Akitsu hid her face in his shoulder, was unaffected, which annoyed her even more.

"Of course," Sasuke smirked, having enjoyed her annoyance.

"You were explaining about chakra," Minato put in, hoping to defuse the situation.

Sasuke nodded, "Essentially, it's the life energy of the body. You can die from over using it, causing your body to run dry of it. And not everyone has an active chakra network."

"Chakra network?" Musubi asked.

"Like the veins that carry blood through our bodies, except these carry chakra," Sasuke explained quickly. "And using chakra, Naruto and I, and a few other people like Minato if trained to use it properly, can perform techniques for battle, such as the Moon Reader I used on Naruto to make him sleep. It's also what lets me use my eyes." He said, calling upon his Sharingan once again.

Miya nodded, "You mentioned something about techinques?"

In answer to that, Sasuke held up his hand, and the sound of birds chirping filled the room and lightning lept from his fingers, "This," he held up his hand, "Is an assassination technique called Chidori, or One Thousand Birds, from the sound it makes."

Miya was quite shocked. Only two Sekirei she knew off had the power over lightning, and it wasn't even to this extent!

Minato was gawking at the teen as well, "That's like what those two girls that attacked me and Musubi-chan could do!"

"Not quite," Sasuke said, letting the attack die out, "What the Sekirei do, I think is manly manipulate the element they're naturally in tune with, much the way I do, but they limit themselves to only a few minor attacks, such as simply hurling the attack at someone. I use it in tandem with different hand seals to perform stronger attacks. And I have one such attack that can manipulate natural lightning. It'strong enough now that I could probably devastate the whole city if I wanted to."

"Please don't," Minato and Miya said in unison.

"Naruto-sama has this sort of power as well?" Yashima asked.

Sasuke shrugged, "If I had to take a gues...I'd say he's much stronger than I am."

"I see," Miya said, "So, what are you two?" She asked, "You obviously aren't Sekirei, but you two seem to be much more than mere humans."

Another shrug, "I'm as human as Minato over there," he said, jerking his thumb at the man in question. "I'm just ten times stronger and more dangerous than the average human...in this world at least."

"This world," the group said.

"Yes," Sasuke said, nodding, "You see, not long ago, there was a severe lightning storm in the city, and three bolts of lightning struck the ground. I was in one of them, Naruto another, and Kurama was in the last, red bolt." He explained, "I know it sounds crazy, even to me, but that's the truth. Naruto and I were sucked into a black hole, along with Kurama, a gigantic fox spirit, and somehow survived, and wound up here."

Miya took a sip of her tea, and sighed, "Perhaps it's best that you start at the beginning?" she suggested, "This all sounds...like a legend."

=x=

Naruto seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but inside his mind, he was in turmoil. There were so many voice ringing in his ears that he couldn't tell who was saying what, or what was being said at all. The only thing he could discern from the senseless babble was anger, and a cry for help.

It was enough to drive him mad!

"Naruto."

His eyes opened, "Who..."

"Naruto."

He looked around, seeing nothing but a vast expanse of white, "Who is that?"

"Naruto!" The voice called out, making him whirl around, and finding a familiar face, "Has my voice become so strange to my once wayward child?"

Naruto's eyes gleamed, and a smile spread across his face, "Geezer Sage?"

A hand shot out and bonked him on the head, "That got old ten thousand years ago!" The Sage of Six Paths snapped, "At least call me _Grandfather_!"

Naruto rubbed his head, pouting. "Jeez, ya didn't have to hit me, ya know!"

"Then show some respect to your elders!" Hagoromo shouted, brandishing his staff.

Naruto grumbled, nursing the lump on his head, "At least I finally see someone besides Sasuke that I know." He snapped, "So, where the hell are we?"

"Earth, of course," the Sage sighed, "Where else do you expect to be?"

Naruto groaned, frowning, "You're kidding, right? This can't be our Earth!"

Hagoromo stroked his beard, "Well, how do I put this?" He said, floating closer to his descendant, "Ah, you remember that while you and Sasuke clashed, Kurama-chan alos attacked as well?"

Naruto nodded, "Well, yeah, and then we somehow created that black hole, and got sucked into this world."

Hagoromo shook his head, "You didn't get sucked into another world, Naruto-kun, you were thrown into the future."

Naruto looked at him dumbly. "Huh?"

Hagoromo sighed, "Save me from my son's incompetence."

"Hey!" Naruto growled.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, you and your friends were thrown into the future."

Naruto gulped, stunned, "But...how...how can people live like this?!" He gestured wildly, "Where are the trees?! Where are the forests!?"

Hagoromo shook his head, "Mankind has grown greedy with the passages of time, and has cut himself off from the joys and fulfillment that nature can bring." The Sage explained, "Likewise has he forgotten what it is to use chakra, and now, where a man that wielded chakra could live well over two hundred years, now they barely make it to seventy because they have abandoned the use."

"That's why so many people don't have chakra?" Naruto asked.

"Not entirely," the Sage said, "Long ago, not long after you three left us, one of my brother's descendants came to Earth, seeking a wife...Hinata Hyuuga was that wife."

"WHAT!?"

"Calm down," Hagoromo said, "She went willingly with him, and lived a happy life, she even convinced him to save a few humans from a catastrophe that befell Earth some years later. He took them to a safe place, my mother's old planet, and there, they lived, and prospered." He said, smiling at the boy, "And soon, they became something more."

Something seemed to click. "You're talking about the Sekirei, aren't you?"

"I am," he said, smiling at the young blond, "It took thousands of years, but the humans that once called themselves shinobi evolved into the beings known as Sekirei. And twenty years ago, as their new home was dying, their ship crash landed here on Earth, their ancestral home."

Naruto sank to his knees, "So...everything we knew...it's all gone?"

Hagoromo smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Not every thing. You still have my other children. The Tailed-Beasts are also here...they are simply in a different form."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I felt a lot of pain from Kurama earlier...what happened to him?"

The Sage sighed, "After the humans left Earth, and became Sekirei, the remaining eight beasts were sealed, and turned into crystals which were called Jinki...after which, they were used as power sources, and sometimes worshiped as gods." The Sage shook his head, "Such foolishness. They now have a direct link to the Sekirei, able to kill them all at once at the holder's desire, or giving them life again...Kurama has also become a Jinki." This shocked the blond, "That is why you felt such great pain and confusion. You, having a portion of chakra from all nine of them, would be able to feel them out and find them. But you have a stronger bond with Kurama, having much more of his chakra, and a connection to him with your own heart, felt his pain and fear as he was taken away from his life as a fox and turned into the crystal."

"How can I help them?" Naruto asked.

"You cannot," the Sage shook his head, "If the Jinki were destroyed, my children would be unleashed, and wreak havoc across the globe for being sealed fro so long before coming back to themselves, and calming down, just as Kurama did when he was taken out of your mother."

"But there's a guy out there that's going to try and turn him into one of these Sekirei!" Naruto roared, "What happens then?!"

Hagoroma smiled, "The birth of a God."

=|With Sasuke &amp; The Others|=

"I see," Miya mumbled, looking at the dark-haired youth, "You've had a hard road on your journey through life, Sasuke-san. You and Naruto-san both."

Sasuke smiled thinly, "A hard life makes a hard man to break."

Minato shook his head, "I can't believe any of this," he said, holding Musubi's hand tightly in his own, "you and Naruto-san really went through all of that?"

"Ask me for no lies, and you shall receive the truth." Sasuke said, sighing, "And the worst part is that before he started screaming, Naruto said it was too late for Kurama...that doesn't bode well."

Oriha shivered, "What would happen if something like that - "

"Someone," Naruto's voice said hoarsely as he stumbled down the steps, "Not something, Oriha-chan." He said, smiling as his two Sekirei beamed at him and hurried toward him. He hugged them both as they barreled into him gleefully, "Glad to see me?"

"Of course!" Oriha mumbled against his chest, "We were so worried!"

"Sasuke-san said you'd wake up when you felt better," Yashima cried, burying her face in his chest.

Naruto chuckled, "Well, believe me, I feel loads better than I did a couple of hours ago." He said, looking over as Sasuke, "We need to talk."

=|MBI|=

"How is the bonding process coming along?" Takami asked as she leaned over Sena's shoulder, "Is the new Jinki taking to the host?"

Sena nodded toward the body, "Slowly," she said, "It's making some drastic changes to the host body as it makes the bond." She gestured to the screen in front of her, "Apparently, the Jinki's former shape was undoubtedly male. Which is taking a slightly longer time for the proper parts to grow in," she said with a slight blush, "but the change should be complete soon, and X-01 should be up and about in a few hours."

Takami nodded, "Strange, the Jinki were all made from such monstrous creatures as that fox, yet I can't help but feel sympathy for him after seeing him in such pain." She said.

Sena looked back at her, "That just means you're still human, Takami-san."

Takami smiled slightly at that, "I suppose it does...what's Minaka planning to do with...him after he's awakened?"

Sena pushed her glasses up her nose and sighed, "From what I understand, he's planning to use X-01 as the head of a new Discipline Squad, and releasing Kurasuba and the others to find their Ashikabi."

"Oh?" This was news to her, "And what about the other members?"

"He's...well, he's planning on using the body we have incubating, and making more to host the remaining Jinki," Sena said, much to the woman's horror, "He's planning to make the X-series an unwingable batch to not only act as a Disciplinary Squad, but also fight in different stages of the S-Plan."

And was Sahashi Takami's patience flying out the window to a slow deadly fall to the unforgiving ground below. "WHAT!"

=|Back with Naruto and Co.|=

"Does anything normal ever happen to us?" Sasuke complained as he finished retelling what the Sage had told him, "Seriously, this sounds like one of those stupid movie shows you liked to watch back in our time."

"Hey, at least we got a kick out of those," Naruto pointed out as he finished his meal, having been fed by a happy pair of Sekirei (Yashima and Oriha), which had prompted Musubi to do the same. "Here? We're just fish out of water."

Sasuke sighed, "Did he say anything about getting back home?"

Naruto looked at his friend, and shook his head, "This is our home, Sasuke...we're stuck."

* * *

_**Me: Well, that was climactic.**_

_**Sasuke: You mean Cliche.**_

**_Me: Hey, on this kind of site, there's no such thing as Cliche unless you don't do right by the story you're writing._**

**_Kurama: At least I don't have to dress like a girl...wait a minute! What about that Sand-brained Maniac?!_**

**_Me: Muwhahahaha! Don't forget to review!_**

**_Kurama: Wait a minute! Answer my question! Get back here, Ryoshi!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**9: Sekirei # X-01**_

* * *

Takami and Senna looked over the developing body of what was to be another X-Sekirei as the body now resembled a young adult. "The processing is going surprisingly well for such rapid development," Senna commented on the Sekirei, "I was afraid speeding up the aging process would kill the poor thing."

"Her," Takami corrected, almost sounding depressed, "This one is to be another female, and from the reaction we're getting from the First Jinki, then I would say that's likely to stay that way."

Senna gave the older woman a sympathizing look, "Are you worried about Ku-chan?"

Takami sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Of course I am," she said, laying her clipboard down on one of the terminals, "Ku-chan was so small and innocent, and look what happened? A spoiled brat comes in and nearly swipes her right out from under my nose, and now no one can reach her!"

Senna placed a comforting arm on the doctor's shoulder, "It'll be alright." She said, "Kusano showed signs of a slight reaction earlier on this month, so maybe - "

"She's a baby!" Takami cried angrily, whirling on her assistant, "Tell me, Senna-chan, what can I expect her Ashikabi to be like?! Who ever he is will brutalize her!"

"Don't think like that!" Senna yelled, unwilling to think about what may happen to the child she had helped look after. "She's going to be fine! Look how she defended herself!"

Takami, taken aback by her assistance's anger, stepped back and sighed, looking ashamed, "I know...I know you're right, but it's...she was just like one of my own kids..."

_Meanwhile_

"We can't just go waltzing in, Dobe," Sasuke grumbled as he watche Naruto pacing back and forth, "We don't even know what we're up against." The young Uchiha yawned loudly as he sat on the porch with Akitsu at his side, as usual, while Yashima, and Oriha fluttered after their shared blond. It had been a full day since Naruto's collapse, and the Kyuubi's apparent humanification (Sekirei-fication), and Naruto, true to his nature, had wanted to storm the MBI building, and rip whoever was responsible to shreds with his bare hands.

Sasuke had all but forbade him from doing so, seeing as the blond was still weakened from his attack. Yashima was the worst when it came to clucking over the blond, while Oriha seemed to try to encourage him to move about, even though Yashima all but begged him to return to bed and rest for at least another day.

Minato, who was sitting off to the side with Musubi at his side, watching the blond in a quiet daze, seemed to be lost in thought. Naruto, however, just sighed, and scrubbed his hands through his hair, "I know that, Sasuke, but by the gods, I can't stand this waiting!" He growled as Miya came out into the yard with a tray of tea, "Kurama needs me, and here I am, twiddling my thumbs- "

"And drinking tea," Miya put in as she stepped out and handed him a cup, which he unconsciously accepted, before seating herself between the two dark-haired teens.

"And drinking tea- wait a minute!" Naruto roared.

"Ara, ara," Miya giggled demurely behind her sleeve, "Naruto-kun, you really do need to calm down. All of this worrying will only make things worse."

Naruto sighed and nodded, moving toward the porch, "I know...I just want to help him...like I should have a long time ago."

Sasuke took a drink from his own cup, and grinned, "Don't worry, I'm betting we'll find him eventually, or he'll find us since he's now a Sekirei...maybe he'll take a real shine to you, eh, Dobe?"

Naruto blanched, giving his friends a scowl, "That is so not funny, Teme!"

Minato looked at the pair, and then at the blond himself, "Er...Naruto-san?"

Naruot turned to him and asked, "What's up, Minato?"

Minato scratched the back of his head, a small blush forming on his face, "W-well, I was wondering...that story Sasuke-san told us, about how your people were taught to use...chakra?" He asked, and the pair nodded, "Could you...teach me how to use it?"

Now that got both of their attentions, as well as Miya's. The lavender-haired land lady placed her palm against her cheek, "Sahashi-kun, what brought this about?"

Minato shrugged, and sighed, "I...I think another Sekirei may be reacting to me." He said, looking at the woman, "I dreamed about a little girl stuck in a tree, and I told her to jump, and I'd catch her...she was so frightened..." his fists clenched around his cup, and Musubi looked at him in worry. "This game...I don't know how they could make a little girl apart of it!"

Miya looked down at her lap, folding her hands across it, "That sounds like #108, Kusano." She explained, smiling fondly, "She's a very special little thing. Since she was awakened, she's shown the ability to control plant life."

Minato looked at her in awe, "You mean that huge forest around the industrial area - ?"

"That was Kusano's power running amok," Miya sighed, "The poor dear doesn't have full control over it, and even with her Ashikabi, I doubt that she could until she was a at least a few years older and had practiced."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Sound familiar?"

Sasuke nodded, "Wood style."

"Wood style?" Minato asked.

"It's a rare form of chakra manipulation that allowed one our greatest leaders to create and control plant life, mostly trees," Sasuke explained, "A few others had gained the ability, but he was the only one that was actually born with the power. Creating life with our techniques is all but unheard of save for the First Hokage's Wood Style Ninjutsu."

Musubi, who was only just paying attention to what was being said, only caught the phrases 'teach me how to use it'. Gods bless her. "Minato-sama wants to become strong?"

Minato started and looked at his first Sekirei, and smiled shyly, "Yeah...I know you want to make me proud, and fight for me...but I want to be...worthy of you..." He looked at the two ninja, who were both smirking, grinning in Naruto's case, and then he tucked his knees under himself, and bowed toward them, "So please...will you teach me to...be like you?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at the young man with a little confusion. Naruto, for his part, could understand him wanting to be stronger for his Sekirei, but to ask them to make him into a shinobi?

Sasuke was more amused than anything else by the teen's request, and it showed in the smirk across his face, "Now that is where you've lost," Sasuke said, making Minato look up at him. Sasuke pointed between himself and Naruto, "No two shinobi are alike, not even remotely. Even among clans, our people always had something special to bring into their career." He explained, "My clan had eyes that could read movements, and copy techniques, and after we took the next step, our eyes could cast a illusion that could shatter the minds of most others that didn't know how to deal with them, even cause death."

Musubi's eyes grew round and watery, making even the ever stoic Uchiha flinch under what had to be the oldest surviving jutsu on the planet. The dreaded Puppy-Eyes technique. "Sasuke-san, does that mean you won't help Minato-sama?" Musubi whimpered, looking insanely cute. Sasuke was only saved from caving under the girl's gaze by a fairly jealous Akitsu pinching his arm.

"Ah...Sasuke-sama should not fall for another winged Sekirei," Akitsu said in her usual monotone voice, and cast a small, pointed glare at the Fist type, "Do not try to seduce another Sekirei's Ashikabi, #88."

Immediately the cute pout on Musubi's face melted into something that could almost rival her previous expression in cuteness, and cocked her head in a puppy-like matter in confusion. "Seduce?" Musubi asked, "Musubi doesn't know what that means...Oh, is it the same thing as the modesty that Minato-sama was talking about?"

By now, Naruto was cracking up, holding his stomach with barely concealed mirth while Miya hid her laugh behind her sleeve, and Minato, poor, shy Minato, was palming his face with both hands and scrubbing it furiously. "Musubiiii~!"

"Anyway!" Sasuke jumped in, hoping to save face, "What I mean is...if you want to become a shinobi, then we can only teach you the basics," He smirked as Minato's head perked up, "Whether you can become a strong shinobi from there on, is entirely up to you."

Minato's eyes glistened, "You mean -?"

Naruto grinned at him, "Why not?" He asked, but gave the teen a look, "But you realize that we went through hell to get what we have, so don't think this is gonna be easy."

"You'll feel like your very bones are melting," Sasuke put in for added effect, but the resolve they wanted to see in Minato was evident in his eyes.

Miya could only smile as the three young men came to an agreement. Tonight, Minato and Musubi would do something about Kusano. In the morning, the two ancient shinobi would revive their teachings.

=x=

Senna considered the being in front of her as he continued to breathe evenly. He had grown into the body well, considering it had once been female, but Sekirei #X-01 was now a fully functioning male. And, she had to admit with a blush, a very well endowed one. And handsome, she added as an after thought, taking in the vulpine-like features of the Sekirei.

Though, after a full twenty-four hours, she was beginning to worry. He should have been awake by now. Long before now. She went over to him, a small light in her hand as she opened his left eye, seeing nothing but the pupil shrinking awake from the light. His eyes, she noted, would be incredible when he awoke. They were a crimson color with a slit-like pupil that reminded her of the demonic creature he had once been. He was even developing claws!

Senna stepped back, pinching her brow, deciding to move to the break room for a much need cup of coffee. She was the only one in the labs at the moment, having let Takami take a few hours of leave for rest, seeing as the woman was obviously still worried about the missing #108.

Before leaving, however, she checked the data from #X-01's implant, seeing that he was still having healthy brain activity. His mind seemed to be very active for having not awakened, yet, but she simply chocked that up to the fact that nothing like this had been done...or even attempted for that matter. She sighed and moved toward the door, failing to notice the monitor spike slightly, and a pair of narrow crimson eyes watching her as she went.

The eyes of the artificial Sekirei came fully open as the young woman left the room, those same eyes following her figure out. As the door closed, he rose from from where he lay, and swung his legs slowly over the table, letting his bare feet touch to cold floor, sending an unpleasant jolt through him at the strange feeling.

Getting over the coldness, he looked around the strange room, seeing many flashing lights on large machines, and screens. He didn't understand any of what was being displayed, nor did he truly care, but what he did care about was the feeling that something was missing. Something very important. A part of him that he needed.

Standing on shaky legs, the red-eyed Sekirei made his way toward the same door the woman had left through, taking a lab coat left on the door to cover himself.

His claws scraped against the door knob loudly, setting his ears on edge as he opened it. His nose told him that their was fresh air ahead of him. Now he only had to find the opening to get out.

The scent of the woman, Senna, he remembered someone calling her Senna, was all around him as he moved through the halls of the strange building. As he padded down the hall quickly, he came upon her scent again, and it was stronger. He heard her humming in a small room behind a partially closed door where he could smell something oddly inviting, yet bitter. He peeked in and saw her sitting with her back toward him, sipping a dark liquid from a cup. Her dark violet hair done up in a spiked pony-tail, tied with a red ribbon made her look quite tempting from behind, and the sight of her lovely amber eyes had nearly caused him to move when she shone the annoying light in his eyes.

Casting those thoughts aside, he flashed passed the room in a blur of speed without even a sound of rushing air. The smell of fresh air called him toward a stair well, leading him up. The Sekirei growled when he saw how far the steps went, and simple crouched down low before launching himself up through the shaft. He kicked off the railing with each landing he made, climbing higher and higher with each step. Finally, he reached the door, and kicked it open, knocking if off the hinges.

A cool blast of wind whipped his coat around him, chilling him.

The air which he thought to be fresh was stagnant with fumes, and toxins from below, which made him cover his nose for a moment to adjust. But the night air called to him. Even if the air stunk of waste and pollution, he needed to be free. To find what he was missing.

Stepping over to the edge of the MBI building, he took one final step, and fell from the top. He crashed into the ground, his feet leaving imprints, and a small crater from his impact as he straightened, rolling his shoulders.

A low growl emanated from his chest as he caught a scent on the wind that told him where he needed to go. A forest lay before him, pure and untouched, calling him home.

As it was, when the Sekirei first set foot into the forest, Senna returned to find the man gone without a trace. Her coffee cup fell from her grasp as she found none other than Hiroto Minaka staring down at the table where he had once been.

"It would seem that the little bird has flown the coup," Hiroto smirked humorlessly.

"S-sir, I'm so sorry!" Senna stammered out, "I thought he was - "

"It's not your fault," Hiroto said, startling her, "He's a Sekirei, after all. If you'd been here when he woke, then there's a very good chance that he would have harmed you. Don't forget that he's many times stronger than an ordinary human being." The white-haired man said with a smirk behind his glasses, "Why don't you take off for the evening? Some rest will do you good. You, Takami-chan and I will discuss #-01's whereabouts in the morning."

Senna, not knowing why the man was being so gracious after such a horrible mistake on her part, could only nod as she back out of the room and fled down the halls.

Meanwhile, Hiroto went to the monitor, playing back the video feed as he watched his first, and possibly greatest success come upon Senna as she drank her first cup of coffee in the break room just down the hall. He saw the look that came over the Sekirei's face, and smirked once more. "However...I do believe that our dear little fox will return to us...very soon."

_Meanwhile_

Deep within the forest that had seemingly sprung up overnight in Shinto Teito, a small child, a little girl no older than five lay within the gnarled roots of a gigantic tree, sound asleep. She was roused, however, when she felt a presence nearing her. Opening her eyes, slowly rubbing the sleep from them, the little girl looked around, finding two, gleaming red eyes fixed upon her.

A startled squeak left her as the form of a truly massive fox made it's way into her line of sight. It was bigger than any fox she'd seen in her picture books, or on the thing called a Tv. No, this was no ordinary fox, she knew, because, besides it's size, she could feel an immense amount of power coming from the brute of a canine.

It was as large as a wolf, and deep, deep red in color, with black markings surrounding it's eyes, eyes so red they could have been made of blood. Though despite the beast's threatening appearance, the little girl didn't feel the need to be afraid of the animal.

Cocking her head to the side, the little girl asked, "Are you lost?" In return, the fox dipped it's head. She smiled, "Ku-chan's waiting for her Onii-chan. Do you wanna stay with Ku-chan until he finds her?"

The fox dipped again, and moved forward, curling around the little girl known as Ku, letting her rest her head against it's fur. Ku gave a soft sigh as the soft feeling the fur held, and fell back to sleep almost instantly as the fox wrapped it's tail and body around her protectively. It's eyes gleamed red as it felt a familiar presence enter the forest.

Something about it set that animal on edge.

It was a predator, much greater than itself. It did not know if it could fend the predator off so it could protect the girl. But it would try. The little cub wrapped within it's fur would not come to harm while the fox lived.

* * *

_**Kurama, after being made into a Sekirei, comes awake to strange surroundings, only to feel the call of a piece of himself. As the newborn sets out, little Kusano makes an unlikely ally in the shape of the very thing Kurama seeks. All the while, Naruto, and Sasuke begin the teaching of Minato in the art of the shinobi.**_

_**As Minato prepares to find Kusano with the aid of Naruto and Sasuke, will Naruto and Kurama reuinite as friend or foe?**_

_**Don't forget to review!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**10:**_

* * *

Sahashi Minato liked to think of himself as a hardworking young man. While he did want to get into university, that wasn't to say that he was sitting idly by, and living it up like most teens his age would be. No, young Minato had started looking for a job the moment he made his way into Shinto Teito. So far the young Ashikabi had thought that he knew hard work...

That is until he was woken from his restful slumber of Musubi cuddling up to him as per usual, by a rude kick in the backside. Standing above him that morning had been a sight that rivaled that of the demonic visage Miya often used on the tenants of the inn when angered. But this was not Asama Miya, this was Uchiha Sasuke, his eyes shadowed over with malice, and exuding enough killing intent to stagger even Miya!

Sasuke had commanded him to get up, baring any arguments, and forced him into the yard for the most hellish workout that Minato had ever been through. By no means was he fit, nor by any other means was he a slouch, but the moment Minato finished, actually finished, he felt as if his bones had been broken, healed, and broken all over again in an instant.

According to Sasuke, as Minato complained, the young Ashikabi needed more strength in his limbs. The physical exercise, as it was also explained, would increase the low chakra reserves that Minato had. As it stood, it was far too dangerous to activate his system at the moment as his was too low to support an adult, albeit young, body. Unfortunately, as Minato dragged his tired body to work, Sasuke told the young man that it would take several weeks for his reserves to get up to safe levels, even though he already had more than most people in the city, most others that did happened to be Ashikabi.

Miya, having walked out on the pair while they were training, smiled demurely as she watched the young man complete a set of push ups, and collapse to the ground, and promised him a good lunch to take to work with him, which he was grateful for. Miya's meals were always delicious.

Musubi, during breakfast, had had the pleasure of helping Minato eat while his hands and arms recovered from his workout. "Mou, why couldn't Musubi train with Sasuke-san and Minato-sama?" She had complained while feeding him.

Sasuke had scoffed at this, and said, "Because you would have gotten carried away, and missed the point completely."

In truth, Musubi was a nut when it came to physical exercise. The Fist type Sekirei was probably as strong as Sakura had been when she used her chakra enhanced punches on Naruto. Which made Sasuke wonder just how strong she could be if she used the same technique.

When Naruto had woken up, he was surprised to see Sasuke training Minato.

After Minato had left, however, Naruto and Sasuke had taken to the yard to spar, where their respective Sekirei had gathered to watch. Miya, having grown ever curious about to pair's abilities, also joined them, followed by an excited Musubi, who was beaming at the thought of seeing two strong opponents about to fight.

Much to Miya's surprise, and silent embarrassment, both had removed their shirts, and were bare-chested, and footed as they squared of. Akitsu, looking at Sasuke...looked like she was about to melt.

Miya shook herself of the embarrassment, and watched as the pair dropped into two very different stances. Sasuke seemed to be keeping his eyes on Naruto's form as the young man dropped into what she would normally know as a Mantis stance, but Naruto's hands, instead of being thrust out as the stance's name suggested, were balled up into fists, and held close to his body, almost like a boxing stance. And the way Naruto kept his legs opened just asking for trouble for any male fighter to take advantage of such an opening. That was when she noticed the slight swaying of his legs. Though he kept his feet in place, he was slowly, and deliberately swaying as if he were a branch caught in a slight breeze.

Sasuke's stance was much more rigid, as if he knew was coming and was preparing to intercept.

These were the Uchiha clan's Interceptor Fist, and Naruto's Frog Fist taught to him by the toads. Normally, Naruto's Taijutsu relied heavily on Sage enhanced strength, but it also relied heavily on the legs for the toads astonishing jumping power, and limber leg and arm movements.

Naruto was the first to move, surprising Miya as he moved in quickly for an overhead rolling kick that caused Sasuke to cross his arms to block, fighting back with a right kick of his own, knocking the blond off balance as his remaining leg was swept from the ground as Sasuke knocked it out from underneath him. But rather than being thrown to the ground as she expected, Naruto whipped his body around in a spin, landing on all fours with both legs coming around to try and sweep Sasuke's out from beneath him as well, but the young man jumped into the air, avoiding the strike.

This was apparently what Naruto had been waiting on as he lept after him, and started pumelling him mid-air with punches and kicks that were nearly impossible to block while in the air. Sasuke, however, was far more capable than she thought as he managed to block Naruto blow for blow with his own, but not before the blond landed a left cross to Sasuke's jaw, sending him careening to the ground where he caught himself on his hands and flipped back to his feet, lashing out at the falling blond with an elbow strike to the base of the rib cage.

It was a deadly move to most anyone, including a Sekirei if the blow were strong enough, but Naruto proved to be the faster of the two when his hands blurred in front of him, catching the strike with one hand while his other supported the blocking hand.

Naruto then whipped around with a reverse back hand, which ducked under Sasuke's guard and slammed into his chin, setting his eyes to rolling back. Naruto stood back as Sasuke collected himself, spitting a glob of blood from his mouth, and grinned, "Not so easy keeping up without those eyes of yours, huh, Teme?"

Sasuke scoffed, and wiped away the blood, and smirked, "Don't get so full of yourself, Dobe." He said, dusting himself off, "I can still knock you on your ass whenever I want."

Naruto grinned and helped him up, "Oh, yeah? What's that on your lip?" He asked, gesturing to the blood on his lips, "That's not a candle on a cake, you know?"

Before Sasuke could comment, however, Akitsu was at his side, a cool hand against his cheek. Normally, Sasuke would have brushed off the girl's affections, but unfortunately, for his ego, the bond forged between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi was nothing short of unconditional love. Like Musubi, though it was behind closed doors rather than out in the open where Miya would scold them, Akitsu would give him her undivided attention, whether it be the nearness she had always desired from the bond, or kisses stolen when Miya wasn't looking.

With her open affections, such as her tender attentions with his injury, Sasuke took it all in stride. He remembered how Sakura's affections used to annoy him to no end. With the Ice Sekirei, it was more...comfortable. "Ah..you fought well, Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her, knowing it would hurt her feelings. "We've been in worse fights than that," he said, smiling as he pointed to Naruto's chest, "I actually came close to killing him a few times."

Naruto growled and thumped himself on the chest where two large scars rested, both from a certain dark-haired Uchiha. "And I still managed to kick your ass."

"I'll say," said a new voice, startling the blond for a moment as another girl came onto the patio. She was almost a mirror image of Musubi, save for the fact that she was more...well endowed. She wore a purple t-shirt with a star across the center of her breast, sporting a number ten on the back, and capri jeans that ended just above her knees. "You two must be the new guys Miya-sama was talking about?"

"Another one?" Sasuke grumbled, only Naruto and Akitsu catching it as Yashima and Oriha came over to Naruto, checking for injuries. Naruto nodded to his friend, catching on right away from the large charka signature he was sensing from the girl.

Miya giggled behind her sleeve, "The two of you were out when Uzume-san came home." She said, smiling, "Apparently, Musubi-chan decided it was a good idea to fight with her, and chase her out of the second floor bathroom window."

Musubi stuck her tongue out and knocked herself on the head, "Ehehe?"

Uzume crossed her arms under her breasts, and grinned, "Poor Bro got an eyeful of the twins, too."

"Uzume-san," Miya smiled at the girl, a familiar purple aura exuding around her. "What have I told you, multiple times no less, about lewd language and behavior in my inn?"

Uzume began to sweat visibly, and quickly hid behind a post, "U-uh, sorry, Miya-sama, just put that thing away, will ya?!"

The aura faded, and Miya adopted a confused look, "Put what away?"

_She does that without even knowing_? Was the thought running through everyone's (sans Musubi) mind. Naruto sighed and went to put on his shirt, much to Oriha and Yashima's disappointment.

"Naruto-sama, what are you going to do about Kurama-san?" Oriha asked, having grown worried for the little fox she knew to have brought them together.

Naruto sighed as he pulled on his shirt and buttoned it up, "I'm thinking about whether or not to just ignore Teme over there, and just storm the place," the blond said, ignoring the glare thrown at him by Sasuke before holding up his hand, "But the fact of the matter is, we're both still weak, as much as I hate to say it. We could take on hundreds of normal humans like we are, but without our chakra, we'd be cannon fodder for the weapons that Minato says they could and probably do have." He said, looking toward the landlady, "What were those things called again?"

"Guns, Naruto-san," Miya said, frowning, "And being a former member myself, I know for a fact that MBI uses a great deal of such weapons."

Uzume looked at the woman, lost, "Whoa, Miya-sama, you - "

"They know," the lavenderette said, sighing, "Sasuke-san is quite...perceptive."

Naruto snorted, "Annoying is more like it," he put in, grabbing his jacket, "Anyway, I know I want to find out more about this place we've come to, so I thought about letting you and Yashima lead me around today and - "

"You mean a date?!" Oriha beamed at him, little stars forming in her eyes.

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head bashfully, "Well, yeah, I mean if you don't mind me taking both of you?" He said, grinning when Yashima smiled at him, "I mean, I'd like it to be fair between us and all, so I thought it'd be best to do everything together, you know?"

Yashima smiled at him happily, "As long as Naruto-sama's there, I don't mind at all."

Miya sighed, thinking of the times her late husband would take her around town just to get out of the house, and spend time together. Naruto reminded her of him slightly, in a sense he had his sense of duty, and loyalty.

A small blush came to her cheeks as she caught herself. It wouldn't do to be thinking of her tenant in such a way. _Besides,_ she thought to herself, _it's not as if we could be a proper Sekirei and Ashikabi. _She thought as she held a small hand to her chest. _I will have to fight one of them in the end, after all. Perhaps then I can finally be with my Takehito once again after I relinquish the Kouten. _

"Miya-chan?" Naruto's voice cut into her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-san, what was that?" She asked, slightly embarrassed.

Naruto gave her a small smile, making the blush deepen slightly, "I was asking if there was a place you'd know around where we could have a good lunch?"

Cupping her face cutely the landlady sighed, "Takehito-kun used to take me to his lovely little bistro a few blocks from the park. It had a wonderful view of the botanical gardens." She said, smiling fondly at the memory.

Naruto gave her a smile, "We'll try it, thanks, Miya-chan."

He strode into the inn toward his room, his two Sekirei trailing after him excitedly.

Musubi looked after them smiling pleasantly, "Is a date something I can do with Minato-sama?"

Miya gave the girl a pat on the head, "I don't see why not, so long as you don't give into his lewd desires."

Musubi cocked her head, "Is that anything like discretion?"

"Ara?"

Sasuke chuckled and went to retrieve his shirt, "Miya-san, is anyone supposed to come and fix those holes in the inn that Mutsu-yaro added?"

The landlady gave a huff, "No, it seems that MBI had no knowledge of Mutsu's mission whatsoever," she said, crossing her arms angrily while her famous aura came back full force, mask and all, spooking poor Musubi and Uzume into hiding behind Akitsu a good distance from the landlady.

Sasuke sighed, "I have to apologize for that. He did come after Akitsu after all, so it's partially my fault."

"Think nothing of it," Miya said, smiling at him, "I'll just have to pay for the repairs myself."

"I can do some of the labor," Sasuke offered, "Back when I was a fresh Genin, all we did was manual labors such as carpentry, gardening, and such. Naruto's better at it than I am, but I'm a fair hand."

Miya nodded kindly, "That would be wonderful."

=x=

"How are doing on the tracking?" Takami asked of one of the lab assistants. In the hours following the flight of Sekirei X-01, chaos had ensued, even with the tracking implant in his crest, the rogue was proving difficult to find.

The young lab assistant turned in his seat to address her, "Last known location was just outside the botanical gardens where #108 is rumored to be hiding." He said, "After that the internal temperature rose and shorted out the implant. We've lost him completely, Ma'am."

Takami cursed, " Dammit, how's it possible for a living creature's temperature to run high enough to short out a tracking chip?"

Senna came into the lab with her clip board, "His temperature was an even ninety-six when I checked him over last...perhaps he's a fire user like Homura-san?"

Hiroto nodded as he went over the locations that the Sekirei had traveled, "It's entirely possible, but with Homura-kun, he's quite unstable with his powers. I'm unsure what X-01's powers could yield."

"And the fact that he's in the same area as #108 is very worrying," the same assistant said, "As she has power of plants, it could result in quite a fight...should we send in the disciplinary squad?"

"What, and have this entire thing turn into a cluster fuck because Karasuba wants to fight strong opponents?" Takami snapped, crossing her arms, "If we sent her or the other two after him, the whole city could be leveled within an hour!"

Hiroto nodded for a moment in agreement, "She's right, and we can't possibly afford to have that much damage done quite yet...send out word that Kusano is out and up for grabs. She was showing signs of reacting to someone, and this might draw him out." He ducked just as Takami threw her clip board at him, "Now what was that for?!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Takami roared, "Kusano's not just a Sekirei, she's a baby! Just barely five years old!"

"And what would you have us do?" Hiroto asked in slight anger, "What do you think is going to happen once X-01 finds her? He's unstable, and barely even knows what he is, let alone what he can do. If Kusano puts up a fight, then the girl is going to be eviscerated before she knows what hit her. Think about it."

Takami was taken aback as Hiroto rounded on her.

"He wouldn't," it was Senna that spoke, "If he wanted to hurt anyone, then what stopped him from attacking me when he could have easily overpowered me?"

Hiroto shrugged, smirking at the younger woman, "Who's to say? I did install a program in his tracking chip that prevents him from harming normal humans, but that would have been destroyed along with the chip when it burned up." He said, "Perhaps he has a soft spot for you?"

"Professor!" Senna blushed.

"Give the order," Hiroto commanded, "Who will save the Green Girl from her forested prison?! Will she fall to the strongest Sekirei ever seen, or will her knight come to her aid and fend off the interloper!?"

Takami growled and headed for the door, scowling, _If you think I'll let some fiend touch that innocent little girl, then you've got another thing coming! _She growled, reaching for her cell phone, and pressing the ID that flashed up. "Homura?" She said into the receiver, "I need your help with something."

=x=

Naruto and his two Sekirei came out of the little cafe that Miya had suggested with satisfied looks on their faces, "Okay, I'll admit, the food here isn't so bad, even thought it doesn't serve ramen." He said, smiling as Yashima giggled at him. "What?"

"All you ever think about eating is ramen, Naruto-sama," the brunette giggled.

"You must really like it," Oriha put in as she latched onto his arm while Yashima gave the girl a fuming look.

Yashima huffed and grabbed his other arm, all but cuddling up to him while Naruto gave both girls a confused look, "Oi, what's up with you two?"

"Oh, nothing," Oriha said in her usual sing-song voice, "Just enjoying _our _first date."

Even as Yashima's cheeks puffed out in agitation, Naruto grinned and placed both his arms around the two Sekirei, "Glad you liked it." He said, drawing them closer, "Truth be told, this it the first time I've had a chance to do something like this. Let alone with a girl, or two."

As the trio began to make their way back home, and the two began questioning him about what his life was like, Naruto felt something strange. It was damned familiar, too!

"Oriha-chan," he said to his newest Sekirei, "You're the faster one, so I want you to go and find Sasuke, and tell him to meet me at those botanical gardens. The same for Minato, and then you get there as fast as you can. Got it?" He asked of the girl, smiling to take the bite out of his words.

Oriha was a little shocked at the sudden seriousness, but nodded before speeding off.

Yashima looked at the blond, "Naruto-sama?"

"It's Kurama," the blond teen said, "The real one...and he's nearby."

=|MBI Botanical Gardens|=

Kusano was sleeping soundly once more as she lay curled up with her new friend. The fox had kept a constant vigil as the child slept, not letting anything or anyone come near them. The presence of the predator still lingered in the air, and now if could sense others coming toward them. Kusano stired slightly before sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily once more, and looked around.

"Well, well," said a familiar voice that set the giant fox's fur on end, "I've finally found our little Green Girl."

Kusano's head snapped up to a familiar blonde woman with a scythe swung over her shoulder. "N-number 43, Y-Yomi-oneesama?!"

"That's right," the woman sneered, "Mikogami-sama was very upset that you spurned his affections, you know?"

Kusano shook her head, hiding behind the fox, "H-He's not my onii-chan!"

Yomi swung the scythe from her shoulder and pointed it down at the girl, "Do you really think I care? Whatever my darling Ashikabi-sama wants, he gets, and he will get you, ya little brat!" She lept down from her perch and landed lightly, "Now, get that dog out of here or I'll turn it into a fur wrap!"

The fox growled loudly, and flames licked out from its jaws, which shocked even the scythe-wielding Sekirei. This was no ordinary fox!

But before the beast could lunge, a new figure emerged from the forest. He was tall, bald, and wore nothing but a lab coat. His eyes were red as blood, and his nails were sharpened to claws. He wasn't paying attention to either Sekirei, but his eyes were on the gigantic fox protecting the smaller of the two. "I've...found...you..." His voice was hoarse, and raspy, as if he was deprived of water, mimicking the sound of sand being poured over stone.

Yomi, of course, thought he meant the little girl, and flitted down into his path. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but I found the brat first, so back o-AHH!" She was blown back by a blast of wind from his raised palms, and thrown into a thick oak tree, splintering the bark.

"Annoying..." the newcomer growled, turning his attention back to the fox. "You...come...here..."

"No!" Surprisingly, Kusano rose up and got between them, her tiny arms held out to shield the beast, "Fox-kun is Ku's friend! Ku won't let you hurt him!"

The stranger growled, showing that his teeth were sharp and pointed, and raised his palm once more, "Irritating..." This time, instead of a blast of wind, a torrent of flames erupted from his palm, shooting directly at the little girl, so frightened she couldn't move.

A flash of black entered his sight as Kusano and the fox were taken from the line of fire. He looked up to a branch where sat a dark clad figure, Kusano in his arms, and the fox beside him, baring its fangs at the stranger.

"I don't know who you are," Homura said, placing Kusano down on the branch, flames dancing on his shoulders, "But I will not let you harm this girl." He lept to the ground, "I am Sekirei #06, Homura!"

The stranger cocked his head for a moment before a wolfish grin spread across his face, "I am...Sekirei...#X-01...Kurama!"

* * *

_**10: **__**The Dual of the Fire Sekirei Begins!**_

_**Don't forget to review!**_


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